RWBY: The Jet Chronicles - Part 3: Order and Chaos
by CrazyCrashCybr
Summary: On the outside, he looks fine, but both Jet and Ruby know that's far from the truth. Jet's true purpose remains ever the mystery, and darker entities shift in the shadows. The future is dark, the present bleak, covered up by the facade of daily life. Can Ruby help Jet as he fights an invisible battle? Or will they, and all those around them, fall to darkness that only Jet can see?
1. Chapter 1 - Dark Words of Worlds

Reaching out with all of your feelings

Your petals, leaves, roots, everything

Bathe in the gentle sun

But hide now

The storm approaches

And we're sitting in its path

Hold on to me now

Hold on to me now

Don't let go

As we stride through the storm

Weiss finished reading the lyrics, and her suspicions were confirmed. If Jet knew that song, then it could only be assumed that he knew the ones who most often spoke it.

* * *

As Ruby ceased her crying, Jet let go of her, and turned her head so that her eyes met. She embraced the dark teen in front of her, hiccupping.

"S-s-sorry Jet." Ruby stuttered tearfully. "That was…"

"I know already. I'm sorry for not looking down before I used our new power." Jet whispered, before hugging his lover even tighter. "I guess… I'm not really cut out for gardening duties."

This elicited a small giggle from Ruby, and she gave a small smile as Jet dispelled the glyph sealing the dorm room door, then leaped down from the bed.

"Why are you going?" Ruby asked as she watched him open the window.

"Three reasons. The first is that I planned to hang out with Sun and his guys for today. The second is that my team comes back in a few days, so I need to get used to my dorm again. The third is that I probably won't be welcome in your dorm." Jet explained, giving a sad frown at this last point.

"Why?" Ruby questioned tearfully, now hearing sounds outside the door.

"You'll find out." Jet replied, before he opened the window, and took flight, feeling the cool rush of the snowy air as he soared onwards and upwards, in search of Sun.

Ruby watched as Weiss entered the dorm room, and as she closed the door carefully, Ruby realised something was wrong.

"Please come down, Ruby." Weiss requested in a comforting voice. "There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Obediently leaping down from Yang's bunk, she was surprised when Weiss sat cross-legged on the floor, and beckoned for her to do the same. Ruby did as she was silently bade, and was even more surprised when Weiss took her hand in both her own.

"Ruby… I don't quite know how to say this." Weiss said slowly, and Ruby felt her smooth, icy fingers as they gently held her own hand. "Jet probably won't be welcome here anymore."

"What? Why?" Ruby exclaimed, tears growing anew in her eyes.

"He had another fight with Yang, and some harsh things were said. Blake's starting to not trust him either." Weiss replied, rubbing Ruby's hand gently.

"Well I trust him!" Ruby pouted, snatching her hand away. "He'd never hurt me."

"Really?" Weiss snapped, and she stood up, an icy look in her eyes. "Ruby, he's hurt you at every turn! From being possessed by his other side to stabbing all of us in the back, to faking his arrest, to not telling us anything, to killing your most sacred form of plant of them all… Ruby, he's just as bad as the villains we've already fought!"

"So that's it? We're just supposed to abandon the one I love, and my brother at that?!" Ruby yelled angrily. "Why do I even call you guys my team if you can't understand how I feel?!"

A gasp, followed by a stretching silence. Then Weiss stepped in front of her, trembling with rage.

"Ruby Rose, we're your team because we CARE about you!" Weiss shouted, before she ran through the door, slamming it behind her. Ruby clutched at her heart, feeling a darkness she'd never felt before. It felt familiar, almost like Jet was caressing it. He could have been in the room with her…

Ruby shook her head to clear it. The dark whispers in her mind ceased, but she remembered their touch. Was it because she was with Jet? Was something happening?

She'd never shouted at her teammate like that before.

* * *

Jet watched from above as Sun and Neptune continued to look around for signs of his coming. He was perched atop a tree, observing a park with benches and a stream that criss-crossed throughout.

"You'd think we'd see him by now." Sun commented, as he scanned around, looking everywhere but up. Jet grinned to himself, putting the pain in his heart to one side. They were right next to the tree he was atop.

"Dude. He can fly, remember?" Neptune reminded him, looking towards the skies. Jet seized his chance, and leaped from the tree, activating his aura. He landed, the activated aura taking the impact of hitting the ground, and outstretched his wings as both guys jumped in alarm and turned to face him.

"You're right, I can fly dude." Jet deadpanned, mimicking Neptune's voice, as his wings flapped gracefully, before folding against his back. He shook hands with Sun even as Neptune tried not to look at them with awe.

"Where've you been?" Sun asked, grinning all the same. "We've been looking for you."

"Up that tree." Jet replied, gesturing at the tree he'd just jumped from.

"Dang dude," Neptune commented, gazing at the tree behind them, "you really can sneak up on people pretty easily, know what I'm sayin'?"

"Of course." Jet grinned, as they started to walk towards the park exit.

* * *

"Where are Sage and Scarlet?"

"They bummed out. Something about training." Neptune answered, and Sun groaned in frustration.

"Chill, Sun." Jet consoled, as they looked out onto an open highway. "Shall we be off?"

"Woah, have you ever tried this before?" Sun asked, and Jet knew that he and Neptune could do this no problem, but he seemed worried about him. Sun grinned in understanding when he saw Jet unfurl his wings.

"Try to keep up." Jet taunted, before taking off from the bridge that overlooked the highway, extending his wings and catching a wind current, increasing his speed. Behind him, he saw Sun and Neptune jumping from car to car in pursuit, surprisingly quick. They soon overtook him, and Jet distinctly heard Sun laugh as they started to outstrip him.

"So that's the game we're playing, is it?" Jet muttered, and his aura flared in readiness. He drew on it, activating his original semblance, and shot forwards, leaving a purple trail of spent aura behind him, passing by his two rivals in a blaze of purple light. He whirled around in mid-air, creating projectiles of spent aura, before sending them flying behind him.

* * *

"What's he doing?" Neptune yelled as he and Sun dodged the energy blasts sent by Jet. Deep down, Sun felt ready to play.

"He's challenging us." Sun grinned, as he took his staff from under his shirt and twirled it, feeling the wind of the high speeds they were travelling at. He watched as Jet swooped upwards, and saw him land on the roof of a tall building.

"Let's get him."


	2. Chapter 2 - Concealed Anguish

Jet perched himself on the building's antenna as he waited from the flat roof for Sun and Neptune to emerge. He felt sadness take over his emotions. This wasn't working, and it sucked.

Jet had only agreed to go with Sun and Neptune in order to forget about Ruby for a time, but it just wasn't working. The brunette was still firmly wedged in his mind, and tears threatened to emerge. He'd known about the result of reminding Yang about who was the most powerful out of them and himself, considering the previous fights between him and his half-sister, but it didn't make it any easier to bear.

Right now, Ruby was the only thing keeping him going, but now that they would be separated for a second time, he wondered what would keep him going. Everything seemed so hopeless, and yet again, time was running out.

"Hey! You coming down, or what?"

Jet turned around to see Sun and Neptune, who had finally made their way onto the building. He saw their faces fall at his forlorn expression and teary eyes.

"Hey man, what's wrong?" Sun asked, lowering his staff as Neptune did the same. Jet shuddered a little as he realised that they had figured out something was indeed wrong with him. It was too late to keep up the illusion.

Jet slowly summoned and unfurled Midnight Rose, still keeping his perfect balance on the antenna, his dark wings outstretched, capturing a small portion of the light breeze that swept the snowy air. His black jacket and trousers flapped in it, revealing a dark grey undershirt. He knew that these emotions would consume him if he allowed them to continue ravaging his consciousness.

"Will you fight me?" he asked in a quiet voice. Sun and Neptune glanced at one-another, then back at Jet.

"Why?" Neptune asked suspiciously.

"I need it… something's happened to me that I want to forget about, just for a moment." Jet replied, almost imploringly.

Neptune took a step back, putting his weapon away, but Sun took a step forward. Jet barely heard as he and Neptune muttered a conversation between them, before Sun raised his staff and turned back to Jet.

"I'll fight you, on a condition." Sun declared.

"What condition?" Jet probed, watching as Sun's face hardened into a look of determination as he pointed at Jet.

"If I win, you've got to tell us what's bothering you." Sun replied, taking his fighting stance, staff by his side. Jet felt his aura, which had already been swirling around him, fully flare at the challenge, creating a purple tempest that surrounded him. He closed his eyes, allowing his emotions to empty into his aura, his overwhelming sadness at the prospect of being separated from the one he loved.

It was time to do what he'd never done before in the past.

He'd use Deus' style of power.

"Very well." Jet intoned, his voice clearly giving his sadness away now. "But expect my full strength."

With that, he felt his powers grow stronger even as the negative emotion flowed like a current around him. Power flowed into him, feeling like both a well-known friend and an alien presence. He felt Midnight Rose respond to his emotional change, the blade thinning and glowing brighter, and the gun sparking with new and repressed energy.

He raised his scythe, and leaped off the antenna, closing with Sun at lightning speed. Sadness turned into strength, and Jet felt it surge through his veins as the notion of not being able to see Ruby overtook him. Sun deflected his first swipe at his exposed chest but was forced to deflect two more before Jet hooked his scythe around his staff and ripped upward.

Rather than break the weapon as intended, it unleashed a flash of energy which knocked Jet backwards, Midnight Rose flying from his grip and dis-integrating into shadows. He felt his aura turn red as anger rose in his chest, and saw Sun, who'd been about to attack, draw back, almost nervously. How dare he take Midnight Rose?

Jet called wordlessly for Ember Graves, his shadow copy of Yang's weapons, the gauntlets immediately forming on his hands, before switching to a more aggressive stance. Bluish flames rose as his anger took hold, creating a rouge and cyan conflagration that sparked and flickered. He charged, mimicking Yang's devastating right hook. Sun deflected the punch, but Jet threw a battery of light attacks, occasionally hitting him in the chest and arms, causing Sun to flinch at the abnormal strength of the attacks.

Sun suddenly slammed his staff into the ground, creating the shockwave that sent Jet flying backwards again, and he felt the sting on his back as he collided with the same pole that had previously served as a perch. He fell to his knees, feeling his strength starting to wane as he head footsteps approaching.

"Had enough?" Sun asked. Jet couldn't see his face, but it sounded stern. He tried to get up, but he felt his muscles starting to fail. Jet knew that he'd have to do his last-resort move.

He closed his eyes and felt darkness encircle him, transporting his mind to another world, a world consisting solely of purple and black flames. Jet called out the name of the one he needed now.

'_Jet Black Phantom. Please come. I need you, more than ever now_.' Jet prayed, and he felt the armour plating coat his body. An otherworldly voice spoke, in a soft, slow, reassuring tone.

"_I will help you end this fight… Please, just hold on for a little while_."

* * *

Neptune watched Sun approach the mass of darkness that held Jet, and stood up, grabbing his weapon as he did so. The fighting he'd witnessed was intense, and while he did like Jet, Sun should be the one to win this.

He strode to Sun's side. He heard no comment from his friend, and noted that it was a first for Sun to not throw out some comment. His eyes were drawn to a figure in the darkness, one that was growing in size.

"In a world of absolute zero," Jet spoke softly from the shadows, "even a blazing heart full of passion will freeze." The figure stood up. "That heart which now does not recognise happiness, compassion, or mercy." Several pointed things rose behind the figure. "Rise now, the bearer of that heart! Jet Black Phantom!"

With that, the darkness dissipated with a flash of white light, and Neptune gasped in surprise at Jet, who now stood tall in the same suit of armour that Weiss had described to him. The ice crystals… the purplish silver armour… Astro Reaper, that scythe. It was all the same!

"Get back, now!" Sun yelled, and Neptune only barely registered what had been said before he was blasted off his feet by a red tinted shockwave. He felt himself crash into a… something, before he blacked out.


	3. Chapter 3 - Herald of Despair

Neptune awoke in time to see Jet and Sun in the air, before Jet slammed Sun down using Astro Reaper with all his strength. Sun plummeted down and smashed into the tiles of the roof, cracking them with the impact. Neptune rose to his feet as Jet hooked his scythe under his friend's neck and held it there.

Neptune dived forwards, not knowing what he would do, but desperate to stop the killing cut from Jet. He could see the intent in Jet's eyes. Whatever he was going through to cause such a reaction to Sun's acceptance of this fight was clearly serious.

Jet surprised him by flying upward, causing Neptune to crash into the friend he was trying to protect. He watched as Jet resumed his position on the antenna, balanced perfectly on it with his back to them.

"I know now what I need to do. Thank you." Jet muttered, before he leapt from the antenna and flew back in the direction of Beacon, not even giving them a chance to ask what was up.

* * *

Jet stretched his wings to their fullest extent as he approached Beacon.

Flux. She was the cause of this. It was her that had caused all of this to happen. She needed to be eliminated before she cost this world more than just a few lives. It was all so clear now. Before, he'd been indecisive, but now, there were far greater things at stake.

He knew what he needed, and there was only one man who could provide it.

Jet landed on Sunset Hill. It was just the beginning of the afternoon. He knew now.

He strode down the hill, his shadow aura billowing about him as he walked, casting a plethora of gloom around him, one filled with dark purpose.

To hell with diplomacy. It was too slow.

Instead of following this stupid school life, there was only one thing Jet needed to do from the start of this.

Eliminate Flux. By hook or by crook.

There was nothing else to it. No-one to please, no-one to show off to, no gain, no loss.

Just one mission.

Jet walked towards the grand gates of Beacon. He knew he'd have to call in the favour.

* * *

"So you feel as if the moves we've been making are too slow?"

Jet sat in front of Ozpin's desk. He'd just finished explaining his proposal to Ozpin.

"Yes." Jet replied, not taking his eyes off the old professor. "You do realise what will happen if-"

"If what, hm?" a feminine voice interrupted from behind Jet.

Jet spun around to see a puddle of black, viscous liquid forming in a corner of the office. He and Ozpin stood up as a figure started to emerge from it, covered in it, such that it was merely a black, three dimensional silhouette. As it fully emerged and stepped out onto the unmarked carpet, the liquid began to slide off the figure.

Her pale face bore a wicked smile, her dark grey eyes fixed on Jet. A long mane of straight black hair that went down to her lower back. She wore a dark leather jacket with black jeans, which clung like rope to her slim figure. A pair of bat's wings protruded from behind her, the ends of which bore sharp talons.

"Flux." Jet growled as she curtsied, politely yet mockingly, to the pair of them.

"Jet." Flux grinned, showing sharp fangs. "How nice to see you again. And you too, professor." She tilted her head to the pair of them.

"Why are you here? You realise you're in the heart of my territory?" Jet asked, feeling Midnight Rose fading into existence behind him.

"I believe I am safe, for now." Flux replied. "You two are the only ones who oppose me as of now. Even those brats you call your friends still do not see it fully for what it is."

"These 'brats' as you call them will soon come to terms with this." Ozpin rebuked, and Jet nodded in ascent.

"Perhaps. But we know something you don't." Flux retorted, inclining her head towards Jet. "Care to explain, Jet?" Jet turned to look at Ozpin, who regarded him appraisingly with a stern look.

"There's a growing rift between members of RWBY and LIJN, specifically concerning their leaders. I worry my team too much with my constant stresses over Ruby, and vice versa." Jet explained.

"You two know as well as I do what happens when such discord occurs." Flux said, a triumphant look in her eyes. "Their combat prowess drops like a rock in a stream. And trust me," she growled whilst grinning savagely, "your 'brats' will need all the help they can get against me."

Before Ozpin could respond, Jet cut in.

"There's an easy way for us to do this, Flux. Call it a warm up contest. You against me. One on one." Jet suggested, locking eyes with Flux. "I'd like to see how much you've improved since last time."

"You know full well what will happen, fool." Flux warned, but her grin gave her lust for battle away. "Come then, Jet. We'll meet Ozpin at the training arena." With that, she simply toppled back into the black puddle, and vanished, the puddle evaporating moments later.

Ozpin watched as Jet vanished, clearly having used his time distorting abilities. He immediately took off through the front door, using all the speed he could muster to get to the training arena. Perhaps he didn't approve of this fight, but he could use the opening Jet created to learn a little of their enemy, and as far as he was concerned, knowledge was power.

* * *

It didn't take him long, after pushing past several bewildered students, he breached the otherwise empty arena, save two.

Jet and Flux.

His student was poised in a battle stance, Midnight Rose at the ready in scythe form, his feathers fluttering in the low breeze. Jet stared his opponent down, completely focussed.

Their enemy, on the other side, had adopted the same battle stance as Jet. Instead of a weapon, Flux's arms now no longer sported hands, but long and thin black blades that started at her wrists, the stumps now a black sludge that fused arm and blade. She wore the same expression of concentration, but unlike her counterpart, she was grinning with evident malice. Her bat wings flexed, as if stretching from a long sleep.

"Let's begin, shall we, my sweetheart?" Flux asked, almost tenderly.

"I'm not _yours_ anymore!" Jet replied, before he took flight, headed directly at her. Flux growled savagely before she too took flight, and Ozpin could only sit and watch as the two halves met in the air, a clash of steel the only sound in the arena.


	4. Chapter 4 - Dark kin

As Jet and Flux neared one another, Jet shrouded himself in his bluish flames, but Flux surrounded herself in blood red flames, which hissed and spat even at their high speed.

The impact that was fireball on fireball was so strong that Ozpin felt himself being blasted off his feet by the shockwave. As he righted himself, he saw the two opponents locked in deadly battle, their aura indicators, which Ozpin had not noticed turning on, both bleeping as they decreased rapidly.

* * *

Jet slashed at Flux with Midnight Rose, watching carefully as she leaped over the scythe and counter-attacked with a stab, which he ducked under before following the momentum of his attack and hitting her slender knee with the haft of his scythe, causing her to buckle slightly, but her other blade came when she swung across with her other blade, stabbing again with the other, forcing Jet to step back, before he raised his scythe and slashed downward.

Flux leaped out of the way, and Jet took a quick sideways glance at the aura meters. He looked to be at about 35%, and Flux was at 40%. He didn't get much chance to catch his breath, as Flux charged him, both blades outstretched. Jet swung Midnight Rose to block before triggering his red pulse, Flux countering with her own, before he felt his aura going to a critical level.

Flux took flight and swooped at Jet, glowing red. Jet moved out of the way immediately, watching as she set the ground she landed on alight. He turned and watched as she crouched on the ground, dark eyes still on him. Jet knew that she was challenging him.

"_Let her have it_!" a rage-filled growl erupted from the back of his mind.

"Through a dark hatred, chaos is born!" Jet roared, feeling another roar from somewhere deep in his psyche. He felt the shadows surround him, signalling the arrival of one of his Dharc armour suits, and he felt the roar again from within him. "A rage that can never be quelled, fuelled by years of suffering!"

* * *

Ozpin watched as the dark figure took shape. He watched with cautious interest as a new armour from the one he had witnessed took shape. Spiked plates grew, and the fingers on each hand elongated. A dark tail appeared behind the now growing figure.

"Come to me, embodiment of that hellish outcry! Abyssal Chaos Jet!" Jet yelled from within the shadows, and the shadows burst outwards even as Ozpin saw Jet's aura completely restore itself.

His purple armour and steel spikes gave Ozpin the impression of a humanoid beowolf, especially with the claws. The armoured tail reminded him of a death stalker, though the glowing crystal at the tip was a bloody red. As he watched, Jet drew a great longsword, one that boasted a purplish blade with a black hilt, decorated by a red orb encrusted in the centre of the hilt and a thin, deep red line running from hilt to tip of the blade.

Jet took a solid stance, blade held pointed at Flux, his stinger also aimed directly at her. His aura shimmered with power, but Ozpin noticed something different.

It was Jet's face.

Normally, he was calm and collected in combat, but now he stood with a terrible grin on his face, one that suggested great misfortune upon all those who stood in his way.

He was enjoying this.

"Ah." Flux said, not surprised in the slightest it seemed. "Allow me to show you my own transformation."

Her aura glowed red as her swords growing out of her wrists retracted, and black hands grew out of the stumps, before reforming into the soft fingers of her normal hands. She crossed her arms across her chest, and Ozpin saw the same darkness enshroud her.

"Open the gateway to hell." Flux growled, and Ozpin could swear he heard the roar of flames. "Give birth to a beast unfit for anything other than pain! And rise! Flux; Child of Darkness!"

The darkness dissipated with a purple flash of light, and Flux stood, now engulfed in purple flames. A chrome silver shield was attached to her left arm, featuring a shimmering spiral pattern, and in her right was a lance, with the same pattern travelling up the lance. Flux's eyes were now a golden colour, and they shimmered in the sunlight.

Flux's voice sounded from all around Ozpin, from no particular direction. She was laughing, as she stretched her arms, spearing an unfortunate bird which had chosen that moment to fly above her, its screech of pain the only sound it made, before it fell still.

"I wonder how long it'll take, Jet?" Flux giggled as her aura indicator rose back to full as well, and turned a golden colour. She pointed her lance at Jet, and a purple light gathered at the tip. Ozpin felt his heart miss a beat, as she fired a purple laser that hit Jet from the opposite side of the arena, the speed too quick to dodge.

When the aura indicator turned golden, its owner was invulnerable. Their aura was either so strong that it would resist all damage, or be temporarily boosted to that level. To his knowledge, all instances had been the latter case, but in this purple flame, Flux was permanently in this state.

Jet's momentum, having been running at Flux before he was hit, carried him forwards and sent him tumbling, landing flat on his back underneath Flux, whose golden eyes gazed upon him, before she lunged, biting down hard on Jet's armour with her own mouth, causing it to crack and disintegrate back into shadows. Jet used the momentary darkness to escape, running to the edge of the arena and crouching, grasping a stich in his side.

Ozpin noticed that Jet's aura was at 0, and knew that he had lost. Flux's flames immediately vanished. She gazed triumphantly at Jet, who had now collapsed, before her gaze turned to Ozpin, who noted a sudden increase in his own heartbeat.

"This is why you are destined to fail against me. I take my leave." Flux growled, before she deliberately let herself fall into another pool of black sludge that had appeared behind her. It swiftly swallowed her up, before it vanished.

Ozpin took one look at the spot where their enemy had disappeared, before he ran swiftly to Jet's side. He was down, a look of pained defeat on his face, his eyes firmly shut, no movement. Ozpin noted blood oozing from several wounds on his chest and face, purple energy surrounding the injuries like poison. He lifted the surprisingly light boy in both of his arms, and started to carry him to medical.

* * *

Halfway through the journey, Ozpin noticed Jet beginning to stir. He walked past a group of students, and heard their gasps as he passed. He looked back down at Jet, and saw a pair of bloodshot emerald eyes looking back.

"Professor…" Jet groaned, as they passed by another group, getting closer to the hospital wing. "I… lost, didn't I?"

His blood was all over Ozpin's arms and coat, but that didn't matter right now. He felt a pang as he remembered Flux's words.

_"You know full well what will happen, fool."_

"Rest now, Jet." Ozpin asserted firmly. Jet gave him a glare that plainly said 'That wasn't the right thing to say'. But the glare didn't last, and Jet's eyes started to close shut.

Did Jet plan this? Was the whole fight simply a way for Jet to communicate how deadly Flux was on a literal level? If so, why did Jet not just tell him?

"Just please, don't tell anyone about what happened to me. I don't want… Ruby to worry…" Jet whispered, his voice shaking, before he blacked out.


	5. Chapter 5 - Readings

Lilac sat on the bench at Beacon's travel station, awaiting Izzet and Nouvelle. She had seen her parents, but she missed her team more. She held out her hand and watched as sparks flowed between her pale fingers.

She wondered briefly how Jet had been. How much closer had he gotten to Ruby? He had seemed really happy with her, and vice versa. Did that mean that, once their time at Beacon was over, they'd still be together?

This, and a hundred other questions flowed through Lilac's mind, but she was distracted but Izzet, whom she'd heard teleporting behind her. She spun around and embraced the petite girl, who gave a shy little gasp. She was dressed in her school uniform, but with a silver flowing skirt that glittered in the sunlight flowing through the windows.

"Hello my gurl!" Lilac greeted endearingly, as Izzet extricated herself from Lilac's grasp with a thin smile. "Come to keep me company?"

_'Not by choice, you big brute.'_ she heard Izzet reply cockily, and she placed a hand on her heart in mock horror. _'I couldn't stand the length of my journey.'_

"How far away is Nouvelle anyway?" Lilac asked her silent companion. A couple passed by and gave her an odd look, before resuming their journey.

_'Just a few minutes longer._' Izzet answered. She was about to continue when a red blur caught Lilac's eye. She quickly nudged Izzet and pointed it out as it flashed across the train station. Her teammate nodded and vanished instantly, having stopped time to give chase.

Barely a moment later, Izzet reappeared, holding Ruby Rose by the arm, a decisive look in her eyes. Her captive, for the moment, looked confused.

"Huh? Izzet? Lilac?" she asked quickly, looking around. She seemed troubled.

"What's the matter?" Lilac asked. Ruby's worry was plain to see.

"I'm trying to find Jet! He's vanished and Sun said he hasn't come back and I was worried about-" Ruby babbled worriedly, but she was silenced by Izzet, who put a finger on Ruby's mouth.

"Slow down there." Lilac said gently, deciding to put her softer face on. "What's happened to Jet?"

* * *

Jet opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were white panels of a roof, a couple of lights illuminating the room he was in. There was pain in his chest and a streak of it down his leg. An icy feeling was emanating from his left arm. Looking downwards, he realised he was in a hospital bed, and the icy feeling was due to a drip that was inserted into his arm.

"It's ironic." a crisp and clear voice spoke from behind. Jet recognised the owner as she came into his field of vision. "This was the exact room that you sent Ruby to after our match in the tournament."

"Weiss." Jet said, focussing on the heiress' eyes, trying and failing to raise his aura, not out of a need for defence, but to merely regain his powers. He saw Weiss sitting down on the edge of the bed, clearly intending to bring up a very important subject.

"Jet… you should-" Weiss started to speak, but she paused to take a deep breath. "You should know that you're causing out team to tear itself apart."

"Tear itself apart?" Jet asked confusedly. He had never thought Team RWBY, of all teams, could succumb to such a fate.

"Yes. Only two hours ago, I warned Ruby that it would be… inadvisable for you to return to us, with Yang being in her current mood. Blake also is starting to distrust you." Weiss recounted. "Ruby also… fought with me. About you."

Jet could sense her building frustration, but there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't give up his bond with Ruby for anything; if he had to fight Weiss, Blake and Yang for her hand, he would crush them without a second thought.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Jet replied flatly. Almost immediately, he regretted it, as Weiss slammed her fists against the side of the bed in frustration and turned to glare at him.

"You don't understand!" she yelled, her emotions replacing the control she normally exerted. "We had a PERFECT team Jet! And you messed it up!"

"Hey!" Jet shouted, anger he didn't realise he had flowing to the surface. "In case you hadn't noticed, every single time you've broken yourselves, it's always been a misunderstanding about me!"

Before Weiss could even offer a riposte, he continued mercilessly. "Who was it that misunderstood Ruby's mockeries of my words? Who was it that attacked me for a single mistake that I had no knowledge about? And who," he gave Weiss a piercing glare, "didn't see it fit to voice their distrust of me before something like this happened? Not me, my friend, you've been the catalysts for your own team's undoing!"

Weiss was completely silent, brooding over Jet's words, trying, Jet thought, to come up with a counter. Before she could get any further, Jet activated his one defence that could be used when he had no aura to fuel into it, the one that was at its most powerful when in this state.

The red shockwave blasted Weiss off the bed and onto her back on the floor. Jet immediately raised his right hand as she stood up from the floor, her face livid.

"I will stay away from Team RWBY." Jet growled, as he shone the lights that signalled his call for his team. "But if you ever try and prevent Ruby from seeing me, or vice versa, you'll have more than me to deal with."

It seemed that Weiss knew better than to challenge him, because she left without another word. Barely a moment after she had left, Jet saw the familiar silhouettes of his teammates' teleportation.

They appeared one by one, accompanied by none other than Ruby herself, who spun on the spot, hopelessly unbalancing herself and toppling over. The rest of his team stared at his broken form.

Lilac gazed upon Jet, drip in his arm, bloodstains coming from under the covers he was laying within. Real fear broke its way through her as nothing else had.

Jet had been the unbreakable, no, the undefeated knight of their team. Whenever they'd struggled, he'd spurred them on. When they looked set to break, Jet's infinitesimal power had reinforced them. Now here he was, fallen and defeated, gazing up at them with weak eyes.

"It isn't much of anything," Jet said in his formal tone, his voice trembling a little, "but welcome back, my team." His gaze then fell on Ruby, who was a little dizzy, trying to get up woozily. "Izzet, move Ruby into another room to wait for me, then return."

_'As you command_.' Lilac heard Izzet's public telepathy, before the girl herself put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, before vanishing, returning moments later without the cheery girl at her side. Lilac noticed her mouth, a thin, straight line. Nouvelle was frowning too as they approached Jet's bed.

"What 'appened?" Nouvelle asked.

"Flux has returned." Jet replied, as Izzet peeled off the covers that lay between her and their leader's injuries. Lilac winced as she saw the deep cuts and gouges; those had to hurt.

"Returned?" Nouvelle asked, confused. "What do you mean? She eez back in your 'ead?"

"No." Jet said, closing his eyes and hissing softly as Izzet tapped on of his wounds with a gloved hand, and Lilac saw purple sparks fly at her touch. "Flux has a new body, ever since she escaped. She's returned, and I just fought her. She's too strong for me."

Lilac was astonished. Someone more powerful than Jet?

"I'll speak to you with Ruby. Wait with her, please, Lilac and Nouvelle." Jet requested, a plea in his silent eyes.

"Of course, Jet." she replied, and held out a hand for Nouvelle to take. Nouvelle tapped Izzet on the shoulder, grabbing her attention.

"Make 'im better quick." she whispered insistently. Lilac didn't hear her reply as Nouvelle took her proffered hand, and the two teammates stepped outside the room.

* * *

Once outside, Lilac turned to Nouvelle.

"We should have asked where she left Ruby." Lilac said, feeling somewhat idiotic that she hadn't asked.

"She said it to me." Nouvelle replied with a smile. "Come."


	6. Chapter 6 - Banishing Secrets

Jet winced as Izzet concentrated her powers on his biggest wound, attempting to reverse it. He saw the time bubble she'd created suddenly darken and break, leaving the wound unhealed.

_'As I thought. These are venin wounds.'_ Izzet thought.

_'What does that mean?'_ Jet sent to her, feeling another stab of pain and hissing involuntarily.

_'These are wounds that resist most forms of healing. Can you raise your aura?'_ Izzet asked, as she tapped his chest through his pale grey undershirt.

Jet tried. He tried to raise his shields and unleash his red pulse, but the last use of it against Weiss had drained him too much.

_'No good.'_ he replied.

_'Then I only have one option. This WILL hurt."_ she warned.

_'Do it.'_ Jet commanded, bracing himself for the full exposure to pain. Izzet raised a glowing white instrument from her bag, which looked something like a cross between a hot poker and a scalding crowbar. She pressed it against his wound, and Jet felt his head snap back as he shrieked in pain, the burning hot… something pressed against his wound. His eyes snapped shut.

For a full ten seconds, the burning continued in its agonising machinations. Then, mercifully, Izzet's pressure vanished and he relaxed, but she pushed it against another of his wounds a moment later, filling the room with his screams once again.

This terrible cycle continued for a solid minute before Jet felt a light, feminine body fall onto his chest. Opening his eyes, he found Izzet lying on his chest, her face very close to his own, her eyes closed.

_'I… I… I'm done.'_ he heard Izzet think, before she opened her eyes and met Jet's.

They were close enough to feel their breaths. Izzet's smelt like the oranges she loved to eat (he'd found out the day he'd met her) and her breathing was slow and controlled. He felt her quick heartbeat through her own chest, which was admittedly almost flat, but Jet cared not.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, neither daring to look away or approach each other. Jet could sense his teammate's fear, feeling both terrible and exciting at the same time. He put his newly healed arms around her thin body, feeling his aura flare at the touch of another.

Izzet suddenly closed her eyes. Jet wondered why, until he realised.

* * *

"But it's not what you think!" Lilac insisted.

Jet lay upon his bed, feigning sleep. It was their tenth night staying as a team. He lay, listening to a conversation between Lilac and Nouvelle.

"Of couse it 'eez!" Nouvelle teased, and Jet heard the soft creak of a bedspring. "She's already into 'im, who knows until he knows."

Ah, the usual conversation girls had, who was in love with who. Jet listened with disinterest, until he heard several interesting things that offset his early assumption.

"Jet's pretty cute though, you have to admit." Lilac whispered.

"What's so special about 'im? He's our weakest member." Nouvelle asked. Jet felt hurt at that, but he remembered that he was keeping his powers hidden for a reason.

"Don't say that to Izzet. She'll tear you to shreds." Lilac giggled.

* * *

As the flashback ended, Jet refocused on his current situation. Izzet was in front of her, and if it was any more obvious that she wanted a kiss, she'd be practically waving a sign in front of his face. The question was, could he really do this? Could he share a level of intimacy that was reserved only for one other?

He thought about Izzet. She'd been loyal to him since the day he'd met him, and had healed his wounds every step of the way, both physical and emotional. While she wasn't quite the happy-go-lucky personality that had been Ruby, she was amazing in her own way; caring, never doing anything if she thought it might hurt, marking a heart of gold.

With that in mind, he reached out and touched Izzet's left cheek. The silent girl smiled warmly and laid her head against it.

_'Please open your eyes.'_ Jet requested softly, and she obliged, showing a little nervousness at his serious expression. He knew what he had to say now, having done this before. _'I cannot give you what you truly seek, Izzet. Not now.'_

He saw tears appear at his teammate's eyes. _'I know about your feelings for me, and in a way, I feel blessed for having earned the affection of such an amazing person. I almost feel inadequate.'_ A small smile, and now he saw focus in those blue and red eyes. _'And I would be lying if I said I didn't harbour the same attraction towards you.'_

_'Do you… really love me?'_ he heard Izzet's tentative question.

_'I do. That is why, while I cannot kiss you where you desire, I can do this.'_ Jet responded, before letting go of Izzet's face and pulling himself even closer to her, where he laid a kiss on her left cheek. He then repeated the process with her right cheek.

As he drew back, he saw that Izzet smiled joyfully at him. She closed her eyes and raised her hands to her face, feeling the places he'd kissed her.

_'If anything,'_ Jet thought, _'it's only fitting that you would be my partner, my secret sweetheart.'_

Izzet raised herself from his bed, and watched as he rose too, completely healed.

_'I know now what I must do, my love.'_ she thought back. _'I will not interfere. It is not impossible to love two at once, after all…'_

* * *

Ruby waited in silence. Lilac sat beside her, an arm around her shoulder. Nouvelle sat in front of her, a downcast expression on her face.

They'd just finished telling Ruby about how Jet seemed at the time, and while Ruby wanted to go and see him immediately, she knew about his instructions to wait until he was fully healed.

She heard footsteps outside the corridor they were in, followed by a crashing sound that seemed to be the result of someone falling over, along with a clattering sound. Seconds later, Jet emerged, Izzet practically holding his arm in her effort to make sure he didn't lose his balance.

"I'm fine, Izzet." Jet reassured his companion, before his eyes fell on Ruby. "Hey there."

Ruby triggered her semblance and shot over to Jet, tackling him in a hug and knocking him over. He embraced her even as he hit the tiled floor, landing hard on his wings.

"Where have you been?" Ruby joyfully asked as she pinched Jet's cheeks, overdoing it a little and causing him to grimace in pain as she straddled him. It barely lasted a second though, before Nouvelle pulled her off him, despite her grip.

"Give 'im a chance to stand, mademoiselle." she requested in her strong accent, as Jet did so, gazing upon Ruby with an uncertain expression.

"What is it, Jet?" Lilac asked, stepping forward and glancing between Jet and Ruby.

"Nouvelle, can you come over here and use Soul Read on Ruby?" Jet asked. The hand on Ruby's shoulder disappeared as the girl herself walked to Jet's side and turned to face her. _Soul Read_? What was that?

Nouvelle stared into Ruby's eyes, her own glowing a deep, azure blue. Ruby had the fleeting sense of someone analysing her as one might a book. It was very uncomfortable.

"Nouvelle's semblance, believe it or not," Jet explained as Nouvelle continued, "is not fire, but this. Soul Read allows her to divine your feelings and emotions."

Nouvelle's eyes returned to their usual colour, and she glanced at Jet. Ruby had the horrible suspicion her worries about her recent bouts of sickness had just come to light, and this was confirmed when Nouvelle announced; "She's worried. Very worried."

"Jet." Ruby said, needing to talk to Jet in private before this became any worse. "Can I talk to you about this? Alone?"

"Of course." Jet replied. He addressed the rest of his team. "Await us here. I might need you three."

"Acknowledged." all three girls responded at once. Ruby watched as Jet walked over to her and laid a caring hand on her shoulder. She watched as he activated his time-freeze and turned the world greyscale, before leading Ruby back to the room he was originally located in. She winced as she saw the blood stained bed, but as she looked Jet over, there didn't seem to be any wounds. Izzet really was a good doctor.

Jet ended the time-stop, and then turned to face her after letting go of her shoulder.

"Now then, what's the matter?" he asked, addressing her seriously. Ruby paused, a little nervous. She'd wanted to talk to Jet ever since he'd left this morning about this.

"I've been feeling nauseous recently, and being sick a bit more than normal." Ruby confessed to Jet. "I haven't been able to fight as well, and running fast just makes me feel sicker."

"Are you falling ill again?" Jet asked. "If you'd like, I could stay with you again."

He was missing the point.

"There's also a little bump on my belly." Ruby continued, as if she hadn't heard his response. Now Jet fell silent, giving Ruby an expression that was caught between shock, and thoughtful contemplation.


	7. Chapter 7 - Confirming Suspicions

Chapter 7: Confirming Suspicions

"There's also a little bump on my belly." Ruby continued, as if she hadn't heard his response. Now Jet fell silent, giving Ruby an expression that was caught between shock, and thoughtful contemplation.

"Ruby…" he said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully, "that isn't possible. We never did it."

"Yes we did. Back at the hotel, remember?" Ruby asked. Jet was thinking, hard. There was absolutely no possibility that that could have happened. Ruby hadn't been anywhere close to nude near him. Unless…

Jet cast his mind back to that time when they were in the bath.

* * *

Ruby leaned back into Jet's arms as he began. Jet recalled the warmth of the water and the openness of the bathing suits themselves. Honestly, they might as well have had nothing on.

"Time for the present itself." he said in a mix between his causal voice and a quiet sensual one as he massaged Ruby's bare shoulders, and he felt her relax as he worked across her back. Every now and then, a particularly tight knot would cause Jet to need a little more pressure, but Ruby simply stretched out. Jet could hear happy moans from his lover, and sought to give her the most pleasure that he could.

As he worked, he felt a hard-on coming, but ignored it, focussed on Ruby. As he finished on her back, he realised that his member had suddenly burst from his suit and was hovering dangerously near Ruby's nether regions. Realising this with a panic, Jet flipped her around so that he could do her front, using the momentary distraction to seal his privates in the bathing suit.

He gazed upon her sweet little body, feeling a great desire to ravish her right then and there, if his erect member was any indication, but he banished such thoughts to the depths of his mind within seconds and continued with the massage. He made a point about avoiding her private parts as he moved, slowly but sensually, across Ruby's front, lest he lose control.

* * *

That one time. Was it possible that something had gotten inside Ruby from his being that close? The chances were minute, but he couldn't take the risk.

"Yang told me about this." Ruby continued. "Am I pregnant?"

There it was. That word that would ruin him if it was true.

"I don't think you are. Is it okay if I check your stomach?" Jet asked, and she saw Ruby flash an infuriatingly sensuous expression at him. The little sap.

"You shouldn't have to ask my permission." Ruby replied, raising the shirt she was wearing.

"This is serious." Jet said shortly, and he watched the smile on Ruby's face fall. "Do you know what happens if this is true?" As he said this, he crouched and examined Ruby's stomach. The pure white skin was soft to the touch, like the rest of her.

"Um… no." Ruby replied from above. At least she's honest. Jet thought, and he located the bump Ruby was talking about. It was small, but it was definitely there. Unsettlingly, it reminded Jet of a human head. Jet stood up and took a step back, allowing Ruby to lower her shirt. She gazed upon him with a curious expression.

"Pregnancy is where you get ready to have a baby. It grows here." Jet explained, putting a hand on the bump that he'd felt before. He looked up to see a worried expression on Ruby's face.

"I can't have a baby now!" she exclaimed. "I'm still at school!" Jet waved his hands in a 'calm down' motion.

"I'm going to call Lilac over. This is her kind of field after all." Jet said decisively, spinning to face the door, and was about to stop time again when Ruby reached out and grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around.

"Stay with me, no matter what she does. Please." she pleaded, looking like a begging puppy. Jet leant down ever so lightly and kissed her full on the lips. He made it short, and she looked somewhat downtrodden that it had ended so quickly.

"I'll give you more after I've seen this through." he reassured, then stopped time and watched as she froze, still with the sad expression on her face, one hand on her stomach. Jet immediately hurried through the door and back to where his team was, not bothering with their signals as they were very close.

He strode down the grey corridor, eyes searching, all the while contemplating what were to happen if Ruby was indeed pregnant and that one-in-a-million chance had actually occurred. Would he want a child with Ruby?

That was obvious. No. It would impact his studies and force him to neglect his training in favour of caring for the child. Ruby would be affected the same way. There again…

He didn't know how Ruby truly felt. Sure, her reaction initially spoke great lengths against the child, but was that how she really felt? He wasn't sure.

Jet was spared further questioning by his own mind when he reached the corridor. Izzet, Lilac and Nouvelle were all there, the latter halfway through a conversation with the former. Lilac stood slightly apart from the pair, and Jet reached out and grasped her hand. She regained her colour and gasped in fright at the sudden change of colour in her eyes.

Without a word, Jet lead her back to Ruby, fear brewing in his heart as to the mystery's uncovering.

Jet stood behind Ruby as he and Lilac returned from the time-stop, making Ruby jump as she continued to feel the bump she had found. Jet felt another surge of worry as she looked up at him, but then dragged his mind back where it was needed.

"Lilac, I need you to use Electro Read." Jet commanded, then turned to Ruby as Lilac approached her. "Remember how Soul Read allows Nouvelle to see your emotions? Lilac's Electro Read gives her the ability to see as if she were an X Ray machine."

Lilac focussed on Ruby's, and Jet watched as her eyes turned a bright green, similar to a neon light. He watched as she changed the brightness of her eyes by small amounts with a frown on her face. Jet saw Ruby looking at him, and made eye contact.

'Let Lilac do her thing, and then we'll know.' Jet thought, using Izzet's telepathy. He saw Ruby reach out a small hand, and he took it in his own, knowing Lilac was currently focussed on her stomach, and that this wouldn't affect things much. He felt his heart stop for a moment when Lilac said aloud "Oh dear", and Ruby gave Jet a frightened look.

She never wanted this to happen.

"Finished!" Lilac said cheerfully as her eyes resumed the colour of her namesake.

"And?" Jet asked insistently, as he sat on the bed next to Ruby, who curled her arms around him as she gazed at Nouvelle,

"Good news and bad news." Lilac replied. "Good news is that Ruby isn't pregnant."

"Thank goodness!" Ruby exclaimed as she bounced up and down happily, but Jet didn't allow her to calm him down or for that same relief to enter his heart. "And the bad news?" he asked, effectively silencing Ruby.

"Ruby's still sick with that food poisoning, though it's only a little." Lilac replied. "That, along with too many cookies, and the thing with the grass, was what made her throw up that time. Buuuut, this part you might not want to hear."

"What?" Both Ruby and Jet asked at the same time, causing Lilac to chuckle.

"Ruby's putting on weight." she answered. Jet turned to Ruby, and he knew the confused look that was surely on his face.

"W-what?" Ruby stuttered embarrassedly, as a blush came in full-force. Jet was anxious too, but it seemed that, when Ruby ran, she easily burned up all the calories that she ate, plus some.

"Hang on." Jet said, now growing a little suspicious. "Do you mind if I feel your stomach again, Ruby?"

"It's kinda getting old." Ruby grumbled, but after Jet gave her a withering glare, she lifted the shirt she was wearing. If truth be told, Jet was doing it partly because he wanted to feel that soft skin again, but he wouldn't let that distract him. He found the lump and rubbed, applying a little pressure, hearing a surprised 'ah' from Ruby.

"I knew it." Jet muttered audibly as he continued rubbing, now more for Ruby than his suspicions. "This isn't fat. It's loose skin."

"Loose skin?" Ruby asked hesitantly. "Have I been training too much?"

"Pretty frikin' much." Jet growled, unconsciously switching to his casual voice, and regretting the slip once he heard Lilac giggle behind him. It mattered little. "But something tells me you wanted to be thinner."

"I was going to ask you actually, can you meet me near the dorms tonight?" Ruby asked.

"Is this a date I hear?" Lilac asked, and Jet gave a little jolt.

"Seems to me." Jet responded, and heard a huff behind him. Without turning around, he continued. "Let Izzet and Nouvelle know that I'm well and will meet again tonight, after I've been with Ruby."

"Of course." Lilac responded, before she left the room.

"Why do you order them around like that?" Ruby asked, giving Jet a disparaging look.

"I know a lot about leadership." Jet replied calmly. "They know about my fighting strength, and we've created a bond of friendship since before Beacon. By some miracle, we became a team, and they trust my judgement. Is that enough?"

"You just could be a little nicer, you know." Ruby half-retorted, and Jet smiled despite himself.

"Ruby, if I tried that approach, we would have fallen apart a long time ago. My teammates do openly admit that they need a firm hand to guide them." Jet chuckled. "So when would you like to meet for this outing you have planned?"

"Tonight. And it isn't an outing." Ruby replied.

"Interesting." Jet remarked after a pause. "I guess I'll let you keep the element of surprise."

* * *

"What. The. Actual-" Jet said, shocked, before a soft hand covered his mouth.

It was midnight, and Ruby had snuck out of her dorm as Jet had expected. The gates were locked, but there again, what use was a gate to contain someone with wings? They now sat upon Sunset Hill, and Ruby had gone to get changed. She had just returned.

With a full moon out, the light illuminated his surroundings better than any light could. And what he saw was both cute and shocking. So much so that the hand covering his mouth was effectively not needed, for he was speechless.

In front of him crouched Ruby, who was in a casual red coat and matching trousers. What surprised Jet so much was the black and white fluffy cat ears that protruded from within her hair, and the tail that emerged from the skirt. As he watched, Ruby knelt down in front of him and raised her arms, with her hands pointed downwards in a very good imitation of a kitten, her ears rising up and her tail wagging.


	8. Chapter 8 - Pain and Playtime

Ruby waited in her position for Jet to come to her. She'd gotten her costume from Lilac, who'd worn it when she was younger. She'd asked the playful girl how best to get the most affection from Jet, and her suggestion was the most surprising thing she'd heard.

"He's got a playful side, especially around cats. Here, use my costume, but remember, you've got to be submissive. He'll let you in if you're playful around him, but also happy for him to get close to you. It might also help if you have some toys on hand scattered around for him to play with. One last thing. It's okay to overdo it a little. He'll laugh, but it works wonders on him."

Ruby remembered everything she'd been told by Lilac, and wondered, not for the first time, how she'd found this out. She watched as Jet approached her and knelt down, before patting her on the head. She felt her cat ears automatically flatten against her head as she smiled. For how patronising the gesture was, it felt kinda nice actually.

"You've been starved for attention all this time, haven't you?" Jet asked softly, tenderness plain in his voice. Ruby felt her tail wagging as she looked up at Jet and brushed up against him, sitting on the grass at his feet. She felt Jet walk away and come back, before a ball of yarn she'd placed in the open came into view.

Ruby immediately jumped for it, deliberately overdoing it and falling on her bum, but she quickly jumped up and lunged again, though Jet whipped it upwards so that she missed again. She approached him slowly, eyes transfixed on the yarn, before she lunged for it again, and this time, Jet wasn't quick enough. She wrenched it out of his grip and curled around it in a ball, making grumbling noises as she ripped at it.

She felt Jet cuddle her from behind, and turned to face him. He embraced her, and, remembering Lilac's instructions, merely curled up tighter. She felt her head being patted, and she sighed happily. It had been too long since Jet last showed this much affection.

She felt a hand on her chin and looked up at Jet, who had a wide smile on his face, almost contented. Ruby nuzzled his cheek, placing a delicate kiss before she withdrew, deciding to tease him. She felt him react, and watched as he stroked her hair, looking down on her with a tender expression.

"Why did I not do this sooner?" Jet asked, more to himself it seemed. He laid down fully and kissed Ruby on her lips, and she felt something awaken inside her once more, almost as if Jet's aura was raising the pressure of her darker desires. At the same time, she felt her worries falling, one by one, away from her, like leaves in autumn, as though being in her lover's dark presence was killing them.

"Jet, this feels so nice." Ruby sighed contentedly, and Jet responded by flaring that oh so delicious heat that poured from his body, warming her through her clothes. It mattered not that they were currently lying in snow, for Jet's heat melted the icy cold away. The warmth that she felt though Jet's presence was as addictive as it was comforting, and she pressed herself against Jet, burying her head in his chest.

She looked up as he heard what sounded like a prayer. Jet had his eyes closed, and she could feel the heat around him building.

"By the blessed power of Asmo, please banish the cold of this place." she heard Jet whisper as a warm glowing aura surrounded him. "Let the warmth of life soothe this harsh winter. Shining Dawn…"

At once, an orange translucent barrier that didn't glow covered the peak of the hill, and Ruby watched as the snow melted away, leaving fresh grass that sprung with warm life. She felt the temperature go up, but not so much that it got too hot in her clothes. She looked at Jet in awe as he opened his eyes.

"Much better, don't you think?" Jet asked, satisfied.

"Far better." Ruby agreed, and she watched as Jet removed his cloak, revealing a grey undershirt with matching tracksuit bottoms. Ruby waited until he turned to her, and she said, in her best cute voice, "I might need help with getting this off."

Jet chuckled, before he unzipped her coat and removed it. He did the same with her trousers, but was slow, almost like he knew that these actions were turning Ruby on. She had played with herself before, after all, and the sensual nature of their encounter, plus the warmth, was not doing good for her restraint.

He let her curl up next to him after she removed her ears and tail, and felt him over her with his wings. The heat coming from the black feathers was heavenly as she was shrouded in his scent, one of a flowery nature, but also of a mysterious quality she couldn't quite describe, almost like one of the shadows and illusions he weaved around others.

It was time to ask.

She brushed the feathers off her and sat up, leaving Jet's embrace. Her lover sat up too, and she gazed upon his eyes, which showed a tinge of worry to them.

"Listen, Jet." Ruby said. She needed to get this across to him in the right way. "I wanted to ask you something. Something very important to me."

"Of course." Jet replied, in an unnervingly unreadable voice, sweeping his wings back around himself. "Go ahead."

Ruby felt her heart skip a beat. Jet was not giving anything away, and this was the worst time for him to put up his emotional defences against this. Though, if she had any indication of what had transpired previously, then this may be easier than she thought.

"On New Year's day, I visit my mother's grave. It's through a forest, and I make the trek by foot. Normally, I go with Yang, but this year, I want to go with you." Ruby explained. Jet's expression changed to one of contemplation. "I wanted to know if you minded coming with me. It would mean a lot to me. I do this every year."

"Ruby…" Jet said, maintaining his demeanour. "I understand that this is important to you, but there's one thing you need to understand, and one thing you need to know."

Ruby waited with baited breath. Was he going to go with her? She would have insisted he speed things up and just tell her, but she knew better than to interrupt Jet if he was considering something.

"What you need to understand," he continued, breaking into a smile, "is that I'd love to be your companion on such an important journey. But also, you need to know that I will not use my wings or any of my powers, save the ones that'll keep us alive. If this journey is what I foresee, then I want us to work for the outcome."

"Oh thank you Jet!" Ruby cried in delight before she jumped on him. She felt Jet embrace her once again as she closed her eyes, letting herself go once again in her affections. She felt their hands lock together even as she intertwined their legs.

"It would be an honour, Ruby." Jet replied, before he embraced her and held her close. As he did so, Ruby felt that same darkening around her heart, as if she was being exposed to a toxic chemical, but she accepted that feeling as she held Jet closer to her.

To Ruby, this darkness was Jet's warmth, and was not something to be afraid of.

Rather, it was nothing more than Jet's revered presence.

Her true love.

* * *

BAM!

Ruby awoke in time to feel Jet fly off her from being hit by something. Dazed from sleepiness, she heard someone yell before sunlight flickered in her vision. She rubbed her eyes to clear them, and looked over at Jet, who was fully cloaked in his winter gear, and wielding his copy of Weiss' weapon, Silver Sliver.

She looked over as he jumped over her prone form to see Yang, and she looked akin to the time she'd given Yang the idea that she and Jet had had sex. She was furious, and Ruby instantly snapped awake as she heard her sister's yell.

"How dare you do that after what I told you!" Yang yelled, but Ruby's attention was drawn to Jet, whose blue blames were flickering sinisterly.

"Leave here, Yang, before I truly lose my patience with you." Jet growled, and Ruby could only assume he was angry too. She got up and ran between them, arms outstretched.

"Stop fighting!" Ruby cried, turning towards Jet, but when she saw Jet's wicked grin, she paused, afraid now.

"I've had enough, Yang." Jet spoke in a controlled voice, though his smile said otherwise of his mind. "Getting in the way of love is never a good thing for all participants, but we've fought countless times. You just never quit it. Now, I will not attack."

"Thank y-" Ruby tried to say, but Jet cut her off with a sweep of his hand.

"But if you attack me now, Yang Xiao Xiao Long," Jet said in a quiet voice, but one that carried true rage behind the façade, "I will not stop fighting until you die by my hand, your body burning by my own black flames."

In all the time Ruby had known Jet, he'd said nothing to make her distrust his word. Realizing that he would follow through with that cold statement, she turned to Yang. She was going to have to say it, and this would probably mean she'd never have the same bond with her sister again.

"Yang. I asked Jet to go with me to my mother's grave." she said in a calm voice. To her partial shock, the anger behind Yang's eyes vanished.

"W-what? Ruby, why?" her sister asked, almost distraught. Ruby cursed her luck, hating herself for what she was going to say next.

"Going to my mum's grave has always been about going with someone I trust more than anything else." Ruby explained, tears building in her eyes. "I've gone with you because you're my sister. You were the fire that keeps me warm and protects me. But now Jet has come into my life, and every single time you burn him with your rage, you forget that you're also burning me."

She heard a hissing sound from behind her and knew Jet had no weapon now. She stepped backwards to his side, but felt no wing or arm encircle her. She was glad, as she focussed on Yang, who looked on the verge of tears herself.

"Every time you two have fought, I felt really, really sad." Ruby cried, tears beginning to flow from her eyes as all her pain flowed back into her. "Jet's already wanted to make up with you, haven't you?" she asked, looking to her lover, who nodded in ascent. "So I'm sorry. But Jet's bluish flames have replaced yours. He might burn me by accident, but at least he learns and tries his best to improve himself. But you keep on making the same mistake."

She thought to Jet 'Take off as soon as I say my final words', not really knowing if he would hear her, but she felt him shift behind her and take a hold of her. Yang looked distraught.

"What mistake have I made? What's caused me to deserve this?" Yang asked, clearly saddened, her lilac eyes brimming with tears, and Ruby felt her own rise at the mere sight. Why was she doing this?

"You keep fighting the change I'm making. Everyone gets hurt in life, but trying to stop the pain I have to go through only creates more pain. The mistake you made was not understanding that." Ruby stated, before she nudged Jet, and they took off, Jet slinging her onto his back and not looking back. She didn't even know how Yang had taken their last statement.

All she wanted was for Jet to fly them away from Yang.


	9. Chapter 9 - Sudden Departure

"Ruby, I've been flying for about an hour now, and even I get tired."

They were soaring above Vale, Jet having deliberately flown in circles, but Ruby didn't seem to notice. Jet descended to building level and eventually landed in a quiet alleyway between two shops, featureless save for two flimsy benches, one of which Jet placed Ruby on, before sitting beside her.

Ruby stared almost senselessly for a moment, before she broke down in tears. Jet embraced her and let her cry upon her shoulder. He rubbed her smooth back as she wept, gazing up from the shadowy alleyway up at a clear blue sky.

"I was so mean to Yang." Ruby cried as Jet held her close. "I made her cry and hurt her."

"You did the right thing, Ruby." Jet insisted, and lifted Ruby off him before staring into her silver, watery eyes. "You made her see that trying to force us apart through violence was wrong." He let her bury her head in his chest and patted her head, feeling her silky hair. Honestly, it broke his heart to see her like this.

"Just… please come with me to my mom's grave. Tell me that wasn't a lie." Ruby sobbed, almost desperate. Jet squeezed her head a little in his embrace.

"It was never a lie." Jet whispered. "Just let all of your sadness loose. You'll feel better, trust me."

Ruby didn't reply, still crying, and Jet merely held her, content to keep her in a comforting hug.

"I will protect you, no matter what. Just stay by my side, keep me in your heart, and I'll keep you safe. Okay?" he asked her softly, and he felt her nod into his shoulder. He would abide by that promise until the day he died, which, now that he thought about it…

He checked his scroll. It was December 21st.

"It draws closer, it seems." Jet muttered to himself.

After sending a message to Izzet and Nouvelle via his scroll, he tapped Ruby on the head. She looked up with puffy red eyes.

"I want to spend a little time away from Beacon. Just the two of us. Are you okay with that?" Jet asked her.

"Where are we going?" Ruby asked, and Jet smiled a little.

"My home. Where I was before Beacon." Jet replied, and chuckled a little despite himself at her surprised reaction. "It's quite a distance from here though, you up for a long flight?"

"Sure, Jet." Ruby replied, though to him her smile was a little forced. "Can I go back to my room though…" she trailed off.

"I've already thought of that. I'll stop time on the way back. It might cut us some slack on time." Jet responded, offering Ruby his back. As soon as she took hold on it, they vanished into thin air.

* * *

Weiss sat on her bed, thinking hard. As she'd predicted, the situation her team was in was becoming ever more dire.

With Ruby spending more time with Jet, and his conflict with Yang, their team was becoming more and more fragmented. The blonde herself was out on the balcony, alone, and Blake was spending time with Sun. She would have been with Neptune if it hadn't been for her worry for her team.

She was distracted from her thoughts when Ruby appeared from thin air quite literally right in front of her, along with the heart of her problems himself, Jet. She jumped naturally at their appearance, nearly hitting her head on Ruby's floating bunk.

"Hope we weren't interrupting anything." Jet said apologetically, as Ruby started fussing around with a pile of freshly laundered clothes, putting it into a small backpack.

"It is customary to knock before entering." Weiss replied frostily. "Ruby, why are you packing your bag with clothes and other apparel?"

"I'm going away with Jet for a couple of days." Ruby replied.

"What?" Weiss asked, somewhat stunned. She'd assumed that she'd wanted to spend Christmas with her team, and Jet with his. "Where and why?" Surprisingly, it was Jet who answered.

"We're going to where I used to live prior to Beacon." he explained, giving Weiss a meaningful look. "And because we want Team RWBY to reform."

This caused both Ruby and Weiss to look up, and Weiss shot her leader a questioning look, before asking "How will that help your efforts?"

"Simple, actually." Jet said, leaping up onto the bed that he and Ruby shared often. "Right now, there's an issue between Yang and us that's causing your whole team to splinter. By removing ourselves from this equation, you'll be able to work things out amongst yourselves before we return."

"Can I say something?" Ruby asked, and Weiss turned towards her as Jet nodded. "I wanted to spend time with a team that was whole and friendly, with both me and each-other. But right now, we're not that team. So I'm going to go for a while and give you time to do whatever you have to do. Because right now," she shot Weiss a saddened expression, "that's all I can do that's reasonable to me."

She finished packing her bags, and ignoring Weiss' reply, she gestured for Jet to come, which he obeyed. Weiss watched as she took his proffered hand, and vanished.

* * *

Izzet lay atop her bed, resting her body after an intense training session with Nouvelle. Her body was deceptively frail, likening her to a glass cannon. She could make them truly suffer if she wanted to, but if she was hit, her aura plummeted.

That mattered little to her at that present time, for she began to get the sense that someone was time-warping very close to her. Her suspicions were confirmed when Jet and Ruby appeared in front of her, but she was not startled. Jet had done this often, and she knew why he was here.

She felt a pang of jealousy for Ruby, but had done as Jet had requested, plus some. Against his expectations, she'd packed his bag for him, and watched as he checked the contents, smiling when Ruby said hi. She watched as Jet nodded in thanks, before he did something she didn't expect.

He blew a kiss at her.

Ruby looked surprised, but Jet took it in his stride, taking Ruby's hand before vanishing.

* * *

"I was still there you know." Ruby warned as they soared above Beacon, the bags hovering along-side them on two dark glyphs.

"I know, but Izzet is one of those girls who loves a little sass." Jet replied lightly. He reached back and grabbed Ruby, pulling her underneath him, the girl giving a surprised 'eep' at the sudden move. "I'm going to summon Burning Jet Venom, my flight armour."

He closed his eyes, and felt the armour plates start to cover his body, the wings extend, the engines roar, and he moved Ruby back onto his back as he completed the transformation. He activated the passenger rider function, and felt handles extend from his back, which Ruby grabbed onto, and a cover of glass surround her. A vent opened which allowed them to talk.

"Comfortable?" Jet asked as he hovered in place, his suit charging power for its flight, all of the joints locking into place.

"It's a little scary." Ruby answered honestly.

"You're fine." Jet replied soothingly, before he felt the suit give off the feeling he needed. "The ones we're leaving behind just need to see sense for our return."

They shot off with a sonic boom, travelling as nothing more than purple light.


	10. Chapter 10 - Destined Arrival

They'd been flying for about an hour now, Ruby having fallen asleep on Jet's back. The combined sounds of the onrushing wind and Ruby's heavy breathing made Jet feel strangely soothed.

He recited the song he'd sung to Ruby when he'd mistakenly killed a patch of her most sacred form of plant life. He'd sung it to her in its soft form. He knew about the two ways of reciting the song. One of them foretold hope for the future, another warned against danger. He'd heard the other version when he was first taught the song. So the question was, which had he given to Ruby?

He was distracted from his thoughts by the warning light that indicated someone, or something, was trying to communicate with him.

"Time to get to work, Venom." Jet muttered to the mechanised suit, which responded with several beeps, as if awaiting his command. The visor of his locked helmet lit up as several numbers indicating height, altitude and a small map of where they were came into his vision. "Open up communications with that signal."

The suit responded with a beep and a small microphone indicator appeared. It flashed as a voice came though.

"Unidentified aircraft, you are entering controlled airspace. Send identity and purpose."

Jet recognised the voice. It had certainly been a while.

"Greetings. Good to see you too Dennis. Jet in craft Burning Jet Venom, purpose is to land. Request landing area, preferably close to you." Jet responded, and grinned when a delighted laugh came from the other side.

"J? Acknowledged. Landing area three-triple-eight is now yours. Welcome home, my man." Dennis replied.

"No place like it." Jet said, before he ended the connection. He then spoke to the suit. "Open up communications between me and my passenger." The suit beeped in acknowledgement, and Jet saw an icon that indicated he could speak to Ruby. "Wakey wakey!" he called.

"Muh…" Ruby groaned a little as she awoke. "I was having the best dream too."

"I'll hear it later." Jet called back in reply as they passed into a series of clouds, Jet starting to slow down, dispelling the purple light that surrounded the armour suit. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." Ruby said, and Jet noticed her gasp as she realised there was nothing but pure white in her view. "How fast are we going?"

"Compared to you, not very." Jet explained as the craft shook a little from the turbulence. "We'll be arriving shortly."

"Where?" came Ruby's question.

"A place off the grid. Somewhere not even the kingdoms know about." Jet said, and noticed the clouds beginning to part.

"Welcome to Theyl Nocturne, better known as the City of the Sensory Night!"

The clouds parted, and Jet gazed upon the place he called home.

* * *

Ruby felt her mouth drop open as she lay in the passenger section of Burning Jet Venom. The city was far different than anything she'd expected. Tall, grand spires of silver and black buildings soared above a mass of shopping malls and retailers. A massive ball park lay in-between the pointed spikes of buildings, and Jet swerved around the outside of the giant city as Ruby took it all in.

Jet flew towards a runway linked to a small airport, and Ruby felt her stomach drop as he descended. As he neared the tarmac of the runway, she felt tiny looking up at the largest buildings she'd ever seen with her own eyes.

Jet slowed down, still not touching the ground, and hovered in place merely a metre above the ground. Ruby felt her cover retracting back into the suit, and stood atop Jet once it had fully retracted. She hit the ground awkwardly and fell, her legs feeling quite stiff, and she watched from the ground as Jet's armour suit disintegrated into shadows, leaving her beloved standing on the cold tarmac.

He held out his hand to Ruby and she took it, before she was lifted to her feet. She smiled at Jet before her attention was drawn by a happy yell from someone on the runway behind them. They turned to see a burly, fairly tanned man with messy ginger hair and a crop of stubble across his smiling face. He was dressed in a well-worn tank top and ripped jeans.

"J!" the man yelled as reached them, standing over a head taller than Ruby, and lifting Jet off his feet and into what was unmistakably a bone-crushing hug. "How have ya been my man?"

"Good… thank you." Jet groaned, before the man put him down and turned to Ruby, his blue eyes looking her over.

"And who is this fine damsel? Looks to me like o' them from outta here." the man said, grinning and causing Ruby to blush a little.

"Ruby, this is Dennis Loch." Jet introduced the man, before returning to Ruby's side. "And Dennis, meet Ruby Rose, a fellow student at Beacon Academy and my girlfriend." Dennis responded with a wheezing bout of laughter.

"So you did get hitched. And what's this I hear about Beacon? You got in then?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, as I said I would." Jet replied. "And as much as I'd love to stand out here, it is kind of hot, especially for my little Rose."

Ruby hadn't noticed, but she was beginning to sweat profusely. Jet also looked a little hot under the collar, but Dennis looked dryer than Weiss' hair after she was done with the hairdryer.

"C'mon then. I've got a place for ya already." Dennis said with confidence, and led the couple off the runway onto grassy field that lay in-between the airport and a vast carpark.

"I'll warn you, he can be overly friendly at the best of times, but the big lug has a heart of gold." Jet remarked warmly to Ruby.

"He seems that way." Ruby muttered to herself.

* * *

"So I jumped over the blighter's fence and made off with the rest of 'em!" Dennis laughed and both Ruby and Jet laughed with him, though in truth, Ruby hadn't gotten the joke, and she had a nagging suspicion that Jet hadn't either.

They sat in Dennis' home, which was a large apartment in one of the main Black Spires (Jet had told her a little about this place), comprising of a conjoined kitchen and living room, a guest bedroom and Dennis' bedroom, both of which had bathrooms. Jet and Ruby were sat together on an ornate armchair that despite the looks was actually quite comfortable. Ruby held Jet's hand behind their backs, and he felt him rub her palm with his thumb affectionately.

"But enough about me." Dennis said, sitting down at the opposite end of the cosy little corner. "How have you two been then, eh?"

"It's been no smooth ride, that's for sure." Jet answered, his voice ambiguous. Ruby recognised that he wanted her to lead the conversation, and she did so.

"It's been really fun." she said, and she felt Jet shift as he put his arm around her as she gazed up at Dennis. "I've met lots of new friends, and me and Jet are now like whaa-chaaah!" she yelled, doing a very bad impression of martial arts. Both Dennis and Jet chuckled.

"Well, I happen to have a plan for you two." Dennis said derisively. "Care to meet the crew again, Jet?"

"I'd love to." Jet replied. "Forgive me however, but I must shower before I meet them."

"Me too." Ruby replied, and her stomach growled. Jet rose, but put a hand on her shoulder when she made to follow him.

"Dennis, can you get Ruby something to eat before we leave? " Jet asked. "Some doobleberries should be fine."

"Sure thing. I can hear her stomach grumble-rumblin' as well." Dennis said, getting up too and wandering to the kitchen.

"Doobleberries are berries only found here." Jet explained, looking at Ruby. "They're very sweet."

"I'm fine, Jet." Ruby said, almost exasperatedly, but Jet put a finger to her lips.

"Trust me, you'll need the energy." was Jet's only words, before he left for the shower, disappearing behind a door, a great grin plastered on his normally solemn face. Ruby sat back in the armchair, feeling the patch where Jet had been. The apartment could have seen better days, but Ruby wasn't complaining, and Dennis did seem like a nice guy. Said guy lumbered around the table with a small bowl in his hand, which contained something that looked akin to black cherries, but the fruit was more of a prism shape.

Ruby took one and examined it, before looking up at Dennis, who nodded in approval before sitting down opposite her, and she took a small bite. The explosiveness of the sweet flavour in her mouth was something to behold, and the texture of the pulp made for a very tasty treat. Ruby immediately ate them all at her usual speed of eating sweet things; very quickly.

"So how long have you known our Jet, then?" Dennis asked, clasping his hands together, very much like Jet when he was nervous, only this man exuberated confidence.

"About six months." Ruby replied carefully, wiping a little juice from her mouth.

"He always seem so formal?" Dennis asked, and Ruby had to pause to think about that one. He had been formal initially, but he seemed able to shift seamlessly between formal and informal, causal and serious, without any trouble at all.

"Yes and no." Ruby said. "He's been formal most times, but there's been times where he's more casual… like me."

"Strange." Dennis said, a hand on his stubbly chin. "He was never formal at all before he left home for Beacon. I known the fella for four years, and never in that time did I ever hear him say 'greetings' or 'forgive me'. Guy was always so casual, y'know?"

"It's not like he's changed for the worst." Ruby interjected, scared at the direction this conversation was going. "He's really kind, and he looks after me whenever I'm with him. Jet's tactful, and he knows what to say. He's a really good person."

"'Course he is." Dennis said with a grin. "That part's not changed. Does he still… have episodes?" At Ruby's confusion, he elaborated. "When his eyes turn black, it's like he's a different person."

"He doesn't anymore." Ruby replied. "What was he like? Before I met him, I mean?"

"The nicest son-of-a-gun you'll ever meet." Dennis replied. "Never wants to hurt anyone, but he had a fire in him, one that made him do great things, sure-as-shit. I owe him my life, and gosh-darn I've said it to him many times, but he always says it was the 'right thing to do' and not to give him anything!"

"You owe him your life?" Ruby asked, startled.

"He took a death-stalker stinger straight in the back. One that was aimed at me." Dennis growled, cringing at the memory. "Thought he was dead, but he was still breathing. Blood gushing out of his back and chest, us surrounded by Grimm, I didn't know what to do. That's when I met the one watching over him. Guy was a pure shadow, no colour, just blackness. Red eyes were the only thing I saw. The thing plunged this machine into his chest and surrounded them in darkness. Next thing I know, he's carrying me into the infirmary! Him! Carrying me! After what had happened to him!" Dennis slapped his own forehead.

Ruby was startled too. So that was how Jet had gotten that machine. She also had a nagging suspicion she knew who that shadow was. Shade. But then, Shade turned out to be Jet in disguise! If it was indeed Shade that had saved the young Jet, then that would mean Jet… saved himself? What was going on?

She was spared from voicing her confusion by the call of Jet from the bathroom.

"I'm done!"


	11. Chapter 11 - A Maze of Mystery

Ruby relaxed as she felt the splash of warm water on her body. She stood inside a shower that encased her with translucent glass and was shielded by a curtain, but one of the more interesting features of the bathroom was the fact that it sat on the opposite side of the wall of the living room, allowing her to hear the conversation between Jet and Dennis. She listened as she lathered up her arm.

"So what goes on at this school o' yours, Jet?" Dennis asked.

"A _lot_." Jet replied, putting emphasis on the last word. "Studying history, combat, perfecting combat. They weren't kidding when they said that I would be one of the strongest of the world when I finished."

"Eh, I can get behind that." Dennis commented, and Ruby heard the clink of a glass. "Forgive me for bein' a typical guy, but your Ruby's somethin' else. Good on ya mate." Ruby felt herself blush even as she began to wash her hair.

"She's one of the most beautiful girls I think I've laid eyes on." Jet answered softly, and Ruby felt an even harder blush come on. "She's got the personality I like too, playful, but with a little maturity too. You can always count on her too." At this, Ruby felt a new surge of affection for Jet.

"Isn't she a little fragile?" Dennis asked.

"Nope." Jet replied, and Ruby noticed a small hint of her own voice in that single word, the popped 'p' being a good indicator. "She's better than me in many things. Speed, grace, her skill with her weapon." Ruby could imagine him counting on his fingers, and although she had, at this point, finished with her shower, she stayed, wanting to hear the rest. A bit of water got in her ear, and she shook her head to clear it, although she missed part of the conversation.

"So how you think she'll hold up at Meta Brawl?" Dennis asked.

"Let her learn, at least." Jet said insistently.

"Sure, sure. You still trying for top?"

"Of course, but now I think I can actually do it."

"For real? That's a big say around here. Can you back that up?"

"I'll start by finally beating you."

"Hahah! That's what I like to hear!"

"I will warn you, I am far more powerful than I was previously."

"Dang, don't scare me! I'll see that big mouth on the battlefield!"

Ruby decided now was the moment to emerge, and she quickly towelled off and slipped into her hood and jeans before she wandered back into the living room.

"Finished!" she called, and both guys looked up, Dennis looking like he'd been laughing his heart out and Jet having a knowing look in his eyes as he glanced at Ruby, almost like he'd known about her eavesdropping. Ruby's subsided blush rose again, and Jet chuckled lightly in response. Just how hard was it to slip past her lover? "So what's your plan Dennis?"

"Get ready to roll." Dennis almost commanded in a tough, grizzly voice. "We're movin'."

* * *

Outside the apartment block, they descended into a dusty parking lot with rows upon rows of cars crippled by age. On and on they walked through the dimly lit gloom, until Dennis stopped and shouted into the darkness.

"Hraesvelgr!" he called.

There was a motorised growl in the distance, then a light illuminated at the far reaches of the car park. What trundled out of the darkness had Ruby at a loss for words.

A massive four-by-four, painted black with silver highlights trundled over. A throaty growl could be heard as the beast pulled up next to Dennis, who patted it like an obedient dog, though to Ruby it felt like a hellhound ready to pounce, and the immense size did nothing to help calm her down, though she felt a reassuring warm presence in the form of an arm from Jet that was curling around her as she shuddered.

"Come." he commanded, but with a reassuring air. He lead Ruby to the front seat of the immense jeep, and opened the door for her. Ruby sat upon a tough leathery seat and strapped her seatbelt on, hearing the rough growl of the engine. She turned to Dennis as he inserted a key into its slot.

"Isn't he coming with us?" the big man asked as Jet stood on standby, not entering the car himself. Almost as if he'd heard over the engine and through the steel plate doors, he nodded to her and pointed with a thumb behind to the exit, before he started running towards it.

"You'll see." Ruby said with a grin as Jet disappeared into the light, wondering why Dennis didn't know about Jet's wings, but there again, Jet had probably been keeping it a secret. She wouldn't put it past him.

Dennis drove his beast of a car out through the same exit and out onto a big road that didn't look out of place on a motorway. Jet stood in the middle of the road, and as Dennis swerved to the side, they watched as he folded his arms, a grin on his face. His wings suddenly extended from behind him, and Ruby heard the 'holy crap' from Dennis as he took flight from that spot, hovering in place.

"I'll be damned! He can _fly_ now?!" Dennis yelled in surprise.

"Just wait until you see what else he can do." Ruby deadpanned, watching as Jet made a pointing gesture to their left, then pointing at them. "He wants us to lead the way." she said, breaking Dennis out of his surprise.

"Oh, yeah yeah I got ya." Dennis said lightly, before he started driving, Ruby turning around to watch as Jet soared happily behind her. "Just how much more surprises has he got?" she heard him mutter under his breath.

* * *

After a solid fifteen minutes of driving, they finally stopped outside a restaurant named "Slick Steel". The place was bathed in neon blue light, and judging from the stony exterior and red carpet, coupled with a pair of bouncers outside, Ruby could only assume that they were at a pub.

She walked across the red carpet with Dennis, and it was only a couple of moments before Jet landed beside her, quickly tucking his wings behind his clothes as he started to walk beside them.

"You didn't tell me you could fly." Dennis muttered at Jet as he produced an I.D for the bouncers, who nodded and allowed them inside. "Or that you had wings."

"What can I say?" Jet gloated over the relatively loud music as they made their way between glowing tables and chairs towards the dimly lit bar. "I kept my promise."

They ventured closer to the bar, and as they did so, Ruby began to hear a telepathic message from Jet over the music, and Ruby felt something slip into her clenched fist.

_'Crush this if you need me. There's some untrustworthy people around here.'_

"I will." Ruby said aloud, but only enough so that Jet could hear her. Normally she would have accused him of being overprotective, but here, in this unfamiliar environment, she knew that Jet was anything but unreasonable, so a warning like that could only mean that his protectiveness was justified. She stole a glance at the object as they neared another set of tables, where raucous laughter could be heard.

It looked akin to a small glass marble, and she slipped it in the back pocket of her jeans behind her cloak, as they walked to the only occupied table, where a scrawny, red-haired teenager drinking some sort of soda and a blonde haired man with a similar build to Yang sat. They looked up as Dennis neared them, having pulled ahead of the couple.

"Yo, big D!" the red-haired one called out, standing up and extending his hand, which Dennis took and shook enthusiastically. "Whas'sup my man?"

"Ain't much." Dennis replied as Ruby and Jet approached. Ruby stuck close to him, feeling a comfort that was dispelling her nervousness. She never was great at meeting new people. "'Cept fer this. Look who's back."

He stood aside, allowing the two to gaze upon them. A big grin cracked upon the blond man's face even as red-hair practically jumped over the table before smashing into her lover, bowling him over.

"Good ter see ya J! Whassup?" he yelled over the metal.

"Fine… thanks… Dean." Jet grunted as he practically lifted the teen off himself and stood up, putting him down and watching as his friend backed up a little. He then cracked knuckles with the blonde one, who Dennis introduced to her as Tom.

"My old rival's back. Still kickin'?" Tom asked, almost threateningly, but Ruby didn't see a reaction from Jet.

"Of course." Jet growled in reply. "Where's disco girl?"

Ruby felt taken aback. Disco girl?

"She's callin' in sick today." Tom replied. "Who's your bird?" Only one thought resonated within Ruby.

BIRD?!

"I'll thank you to not refer to her as that, for your sake." Jet hissed in response, as if he knew Ruby was angry. "Ruby Rose, and she'll probably kill you if you call her that again."

"Meant no offense." Tom replied lightly, extending a fist for Ruby to bump, which she did quickly, mimicking Jet.

"He's right about that." Ruby said with what she hoped was a strong glare at Tom. She felt Jet put an arm around her, and leant into the embrace, showing firmly who she was aligned to here.

"Oo!" Dean yelled upon seeing this, having been talking to Dennis. "Are you two an item? Congrats J! But hey now. You sound a bit different." His face adopted a pout which Ruby didn't think possible.

"I don't believe I do." Jet replied, guiding Ruby to a chair and seating her upon it, before he turned to Tom. "Now, I challenge you, Tom, to a Meta Brawl!" He pointed at Tom, making a gun shape with his hand.

"Never thought I'd hear that. I invite Dean and Dennis to participate!" Tom responded.


	12. Chapter 12 - Meta Brawl

"Now, I challenge you, Tom, to a Meta Brawl!" Jet pointed at Tom, making a gun shape with his hand.

"Never thought I'd hear that. I accept, and I invite Dean and Dennis to participate!" Tom responded.

"I accept, bud'." Dean grinned.

"I refuse, and offer my place instead to Ruby!" Dennis responded, and turned to Ruby. "What'll it be?" Ruby felt uneasy, and even more so when Jet immediately said, telepathically, '_Say "I reject", quickly!'_

Now Ruby was torn. How would it be if she entered this contest against Jet's wishes? There again, she had no idea about what this contest would be. But, it was time to play with Jet. What was the worst that could happen?

"I accept." Ruby said, and turned to Jet, who'd surprisingly smiled a little.

"You don't know what you're in for." Jet reprimanded. "Dennis, can you please explain the rules to Ruby while the three of us suit up?"

"Sure thing." Dennis agreed as he sat opposite Ruby. The three friends walked away from the table to a set of stairs that previously hadn't been seen by Ruby, and descended into the dark room beyond. Dennis snatched a tissue from a holder on the table and pulled a pen from within his jeans before drawing a square box, a ring in the center with the word 'goal' in it, with four rings in-between the ring and the outside of the box, one of which was further away from the goal than the others.

"Goal is simple." Dennis explained. "Get as many points as you can. To do that, ya need to know some things. In each round, one player is the attacker. That player is the last player that scored, or the challenger at the start of the game, which in this case is Jet."

Okay. Not too complex.

"He starts here." Dennis continued, pointing at the circle further from the center than the others. "He'll run towards the goal with a ball in his hand. All you need to do is steal it from him and get into the goal with it. But here is where it gets interesting. All players are in mechanized suits, which are both strong and able to fire energy blasts.

"Wait, what?" Ruby blurted out, surprised. They were wearing armour for this?

"Surprises everyone. Anyway, that's all you need to know. Just remember that you're playing for yourself, even if it looks like you're fighting a three on one. Good luck, and do Jet proud!"

With that, Dennis gestured to the stairs that Jet and the others had walked down. Ruby took one last look at him, before she walked down the surprisingly steep stairs into the depths.

* * *

Ruby heard a grinding noise above her as she walked into what looked like a changing room that wouldn't look out of place in a school gymnasium. The difference was, the lockers were much larger than expected, the roof stretched to about three times the normal height, and as she took a few steps forward, a great, machine suit jumped out from a corner and caused her to shriek in surprise!

She heard a great guffaw from the suits loudspeaker, revealing the person inside the suit to be Dean.

"Hah hahah! Whaddya think, huh?" he boasted. The suit itself didn't look out of place from a sci-fi game, with chrome armour plates and glowing blue neon lights. The great chest plate bore the name 'Blue Brawler', and the helmet had a wide dark blue visor. The thing stood at twice Ruby's height, and crouched to speak to her.

"Weak." came a mechanical growl behind Dean, and Tom emerged, his own boasting a yellow, dirty design with camo-painted plating and a hard-edged look to it. His own mech was named 'Swooping Hawk'. "My custom mech can beat you every time."

"Says you." Jet said as he walked from behind the two armour suits, but he lacked his own. He took Ruby's hand and lead her to a red suit that didn't move. "This one is yours."

The suit was a smaller, red version of Dean's suit, with the name 'Red Rum' on the front, knelt on a single knee. Jet took Ruby behind the suit for her to see three small steps into the suit, which was completely open on the back, almost as if it was designed to be walked into. At Jet's nod, she climbed the steps and knelt into the suit, which closed around her. The visor was clear from the inside, allowing Ruby to see.

She tried to stand, but the suit didn't move. "Initializing" was shown on the left side of her view, before the word "Complete" replaced it. She tried again to stand, and succeeded, feeling the suit's impressive power as she stood up. Now Jet's head came up to her chest, and she stretched her arm out in front of her experimentally. The suit responded to her every movement, and didn't seem to restrict her in any way.

"Remember this." Jet said, tapping her upper chest to get her attention. "Your suit is Red Rum, Class E. You have your shooting ability as standard."

"Red Rum, Class E, got it." Ruby repeated, and he smiled as Dean lumbered over to her and Jet.

"Where's your suit, Jet?" he asked, slamming his chest with his fist.

"It's coming. You'll see. Now, let's get ready." Jet replied, gesturing to his left, where four circles glowing a deep red were. Dean, Tom and Jet walked over to them, and each stood within one each. Glass tubes descended on each, before they vanished in a flash of white light.

Ruby, taken aback, walked over to the last red circle, and watched as the glass tube descended on her, before a bright light overwhelmed her vision.


	13. Chapter 13 - Jet's Fight

Once Ruby's vison had cleared of the white flash of light, she saw that she stood in a dark blue, circular arena, reminding her very much of a movie Jet had taken her to see.

Tron.

The arena was as Dennis had described. Marked in red neon circles were their starting places, and in green was the goal in the center. A scoreboard was to the left of her, and people sat in stands around the ring. Ruby saw Dennis waving from the abnormally large crowd that had gathered.

"All players, state designations." an automated voice commanded.

"Dean Cornfield. Class E, Trainer Suit! Designation Blue Brawler!" Dean yelled out, his suit's fists clenching.

Ruby did a double-take, before she remembered her own suit's designation.

"Ruby Rose. Class E, Trainer Suit! Designation Red Rum!" Ruby called, feeling her suit awaken and activate, the displays coming to life.

"Tom Birch. Class D, Power Suit. Designation Swooping Hawk." Tom called, and his custom suit blazed in red light as he rose up to a standing position.

Then it was Jet's turn. She watched as he raised his arms and blanketed himself in shadows. Within a moment, the form of Abyssal Chaos Jet burst outward, sans the cannon-tail, Jet's eyes gleaming from the visor. Ruby heard gasps from both Dean and Tom, and he even heard a 'What?!' from Dennis. The crowd roared in apparent surprise.

"Jet. Class S, Omega Suit! Designation, Abyssal Chaos Jet! The embodiment of dark hatred!" Jet roared from within the suit, and a mechanical screech accompanied which Ruby could only assume was a battle cry from the suit itself, almost as if she'd heard a great roar of a Grimm.

"All players recognised. Begin." the mechanical voice announced, before a change in the music caught her attention. It turned to a rock-style guitar solo as the steel ball appeared in Jet's hands, and Ruby felt intensity in her lover's gaze as he focussed on the ring in front of him, the entire floor turning a deep red…

'No.' Ruby thought to herself. This was a true game of honour to Jet and his friends, and in this ring, they weren't lovers. They were opponents, and Ruby had to give him the best she had, as she was defending against him. She had to wonder though, if there was a point where her action would decide victory over defeat, would she _let_ Jet win?

Jet took a look at the three of them, then immediately took off running for the center. Ruby held her hands out in front of her and felt a charging ball of energy at her palm as Dean moved to intercept, and Tom stood his ground, also charging a purple ball of energy judging from the sound behind her. Jet ran straight towards Dean with a red flare of energy and barrelled the mech over, stepping over the opponent as he continued running.

Both Ruby and Tom unleashed their shots, Tom missing but Ruby's slammed Jet in the shoulder, slowing him down, but not stopping him. As he got closer to the scoring area, Ruby ran sideways, determined to intercept him. She reached his path just barely several strides away from the scoring area, and dodged an energy blast that Jet fired with his own hands, but Jet turned his shoulder and shoulder barged, forcing Ruby to plant her feet to resist his push, using her own mechanical body to brace as she swung her metal fist at the arm holding the ball.

Jet knocked her arms aside with a sweep of his arm, and then nutted her with a resounding clang in Ruby's helmet that caused her to double over as Jet ran past her, the disoriented girl watching as he ran at the neon green scoring ring, ducking another energy blast from Tom before he reached the ring and smashed the ball into the scoring area. The display gave Jet two points (one of them indicated as the 'first base' bonus), before white light blinded Ruby again.

After a brief pause, she opened her eyes to find herself in the same position before Jet had charged. The other players were in the same position as before, and it seemed as though nothing had changed, though Dean looked to be clutching his side, possibly from Jet's charge.

The siren sounded again, and Ruby ran at Jet, determined to get him this time. Dean also took off running, but Tom once again hung back. What was his deal?

Jet reacted as Ruby neared him, taking her shoulder barge but infuriatingly still keeping his hand on the ball. Ruby pushed with all her and Red Rum's might, but Jet held firm, though Ruby could see his strength was beginning to wane.

BAM!

Dean suddenly tackled them from the left and knocked both of them down, seizing the ball from under Jet's arm and taking off towards the goal.

Ruby landed on top of Jet with a resounding crunch from the suit and a faint cry of pain from Jet. She got up, completely distracted from the game, and looked at Jet, who got back up shakily, the suit he was in flickering a little, almost as if it was flickering in and out of reality, before he shot off, chasing after Dean.

Ruby shook her head, before she gave chase.

* * *

The match continued, with various points being scored by all contestants. Ruby looked up at the score to see she and Dean were tied at 5 after she made her third goal. Tom and Jet were battling it out for first, with Jet at 9 points and Tom at 8 points.

Jet's armour was proving superior in every way to theirs, but Ruby was beginning to notice that something was happening to Jet. He was getting more and more tired as the game progressed.

Ruby kept her eyes on him as she moved to her designated starting zone for the next round. His armour was beginning to flicker more erratically, and Ruby could almost sense something was wrong.

Her suspicion was conformed barely a minute after she started running. Jet immediately flew at her, anticipating her circling tactic that gave her two of her 3 goals. Ruby braced herself for the impact, which came a moment later, as Jet hit her so hard it turned her around and caused her to slam to the ground, on top of him.

A scream of pain erupted from the body under her, and Ruby immediately jumped up to see Jet, down, bleeding from multiple injuries, and his left arm was bent at an odd angle. Ruby looked at him, confused and shocked, until she snapped to one, important fact.

Jet's armour had disappeared!

"STOP THE GAME!" Ruby screamed as she lifted Jet with her mech's arms. Both Dean and Tom whirled around, and saw.

"What the…" Tom asked.

"Ruby!" Dennis yelled as the crowd erupted into worried calls and chatting. "Take Jet back into the changing rooms! I'm coming down!" he commanded, pointing to a door Ruby hadn't seen before.


	14. Chapter 14 - A Different View

Ruby sat in the back of Hraesvelgr as she cradled the injured Jet's head. He was groaning in pain as she stroked his head, trying her best not to hyperventilate from worry. Dennis was hurriedly driving back to his apartment.

"He… knows what he's… doing." Jet hissed in between pain-stricken moans, even as they pulled into the dark parking lot.

* * *

Jet lay upon the same sofa that Ruby had sat on during her conversation with Dennis. In the dim atmosphere, Jet's now-bandaged limb was still stained a deep crimson, and he rested now, with his eyes shut and breathing steady, owing to the rather unconventional relief coming from Dennis knocking him out cold. Ruby had rounded on him angrily, but he'd simply told her that it was either that or let him suffer more pain.

She knelt next to him, watching as his chest rose and fall, a red welt on his otherwise fair skin atop his forehead evidence of Dennis' mercy. The man himself was getting something from a storage room in his bedroom, leaving Ruby to watch over her loved one. She peered over as he remained there, breathing but otherwise motionless.

Stomping footsteps behind her told her Dean had returned, and she stood up after kissing Jet's cheek before stepping back and watching as the brute took Jet's broken arm and twisted it with a jarring crack to its correct orientation.

He then held his palm over Jet's arm, and Ruby saw a familiar blue substance pouring out of his hand onto Jet's arm. It was the same icy blue healing liquid that Jet typically used to heal himself. So Dennis was the one he'd copied that particular semblance from.

The liquid seeped through the bandages as Dennis leant back, having done all he could.

"Do you know why his suit disappeared?" he asked, turning his gaze to Ruby.

"I don't know." Ruby admitted, before an idea struck her. "Wait," she said, at Dennis' raised eyebrows, "Jet told me something about his suits only being active if his aura was low, and even then, only for a limited time."

"So all those hits he was taking was on his aura?" Dennis enquired. "Damn. Tough bastard you got, love." He walked away, returning with a bowl full of hot water and a sponge a minute later. "For his head." he muttered, before lumbering off again.

As Ruby took up her silent vigil by Jet's side, she remembered about when Jet cared for her when she was sick.

* * *

Ruby felt terrible as she clenched her stomach under her covers, feeling cold sweat everywhere on her face as she shivered. She briefly heard the door open and close, and wondered who it was, but she didn't open her tightly shut eyes. She was feeling dizzy again, and her stomach was in turmoil.

A hiccup escaped her, and Ruby felt, not for the first time that morning, the feeling of her stomach contents rising up her throat. Activating her semblance, she rushed to the bathroom and bowed her head over the toilet before she was messily sick. Someone entered the bathroom moments after her agonized retching began. Thankfully, this episode was shorter than the previous one, and she soon collapsed against the toilet bowl, still dry heaving.

Ruby then felt a cold hand on her back and jumped in shock as it caressed her back. She turned her gaze away from the toilet full of vomit to see Jet with a reassuring smile on his face. The bathroom was so cold, and she began to tremble in the chill. She tried to smile, but she felt as if he'd already detected a problem's presence. She watched as he cupped his hands together, feeling the sickening taste of stomach acid on her tongue as he filled them with water, before bringing them to Ruby's face.

"Let's wash out your mouth now, Ruby." he said. Ruby nodded in thanks, sucking up the water before spitting it out into the toilet. She was somewhat successful in getting the taste out of her mouth. Hitting the flush, Jet lifted Ruby gently into his arms, before carrying her back to her bed. Ruby clutched at Jet for his warmth as he walked, and she felt him release that delicious warmth that caused her to practically merge with him and his heat.

Jet lifted Ruby onto her bed and tucked Ruby in. He vanished and reappeared with a bowl along with a cup of water. Ruby curled into herself, desperate to warm up, but finding no solace from her chills. It was then that Jet covered her with his wings and unleashed more heat for her, and Ruby smiled in thanks as she closed her eyes.

* * *

As the flashback ended, Ruby looked upon Jet, and felt a new rush of affection for her love.

"You never left my side that day, did you? When I was ill, you took care of me." Ruby whispered softly. He had sacrificed much to keep her safe, and Ruby would be damned if she deviated from what he'd done for her.

"I did." came a reply, and Ruby immediately looked at her lover's face to see an open pair of emerald eyes and a small smile on Jet's face. Ruby never noticed the tears in her eyes as she watched him sit up, testing his healed arm, and then clutching his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, kneeling closer to him.

"Feels like my forehead was hit by a chunk of fire dust, and my arm's just been healed," Jet responded, looking at her, "but other than that, yeah, I'm fine."

"Yer have me to thank fer that." Dennis growled as he sat opposite the two, Ruby sitting next to Jet and feeling him put an arm and a wing around her shoulder. She laid her head on his shoulder and watched as Dennis, lopsided now, continued. "I healed yer arm, and I rapped yer on the 'ead to knock yer out cold so yer wouldn't feel anything. Ruby damn near killed me when I did."

"I pulled Crescent Rose on him." Ruby explained, remembering her anger at the time.

"I would have done the same, in both your places." Jet replied, tussling Ruby's hair a little, but not too much. Ruby had drawn the line at him ruffling up her hair. "I apologise for causing such a scare."

"What are these 'suits' you and Ruby keep referring to?" Dennis asked. Ruby decided to let Jet explain, putting her arms around him lovingly whilst trying not to be too much of a distraction.

"It's called Dharc Armour." Jet explained. "You see, I can manipulate darkness into three suits which perform different roles. The Abyssal Chaos Jet you saw in the arena is my attack based armour. There are two other armours. Burning Jet Venom is my speed based armour, that's the one I arrived in. Then there's Jet Black Phantom, my defensive armour. I can use them when my aura is low, and by triggering them, I restore my aura to full capacity."

Now Ruby began to listen more intently, for this information could be invaluable if she teamed up with Jet, or if god forbid, they were to fight.

"So you can use these to essentially heal yourself?" Dennis inquired.

"That and much more. I found out that the reason why my aura fluctuates all the time is because it's being drained by my own attacks. Each magical attack or block I use has part of my aura that makes it stronger and easier to recharge, but it costs me my own aura. With the added ability to copy semblances, I become the formidable opponent that left your tutelage two years ago." Jet finished.

"That does make sense." Dennis remarked. "Your father had the same kind of attacks."

"I know." Jet shortly responded. Dennis got up.

"Well I don't know if ye knew, but it's getting' close ter midnight. Off to bed with you two." he said.


	15. Chapter 15 - Red like Roses

Ruby relaxed into the bed beside Jet. Both were in their sleep clothes, and Jet smiled as she wrapped her leg around his own. Ruby felt the heat she'd known so well radiate from Jet, and she cuddled him as he stretched his wings outwards. Ruby felt an arm wrap around her back and bring her closer, so that their foreheads almost touched.

They kissed, Ruby sighing happily as Jet fully embraced her, the entirety of her body engulfed in warmth. To add to her comfort, the guest bed they rested in was one of the comfiest Ruby had ever slept in. She felt drowsiness take her like a spell cast in the purest essence of her soul.

She felt Jet run his fingers through her hair, and reciprocated, putting a hand on his chest, feeling the area where his mechanical heart rested. She slipped her hand under his shirt and felt him hiss a little, but he did nothing to withdraw as she felt the firm muscles of her love, yet surprisingly enough, there was no chest hair.

Ruby noticed Jet was still not moving further, seemingly content to play with her soft hair. She grasped Jet's free hand with her own and put it on her own breast, though she kept the shirt she wore in between. Even so, Jet immediately wrenched his arm out of her grip, but before she could do anything to complain, he reached behind her and went under her shirt, but rose up to massage her back.

Satisfied with this, and deciding that Jet was more of a slow burner than she'd thought, she pressed her body closer to his own, before waiting for him to make the next move. She felt a shift, and noticed a growing wetness between her legs, one that Jet had seemingly not picked up on, though he would soon.

Jet reached in between them so that he now grasped Ruby's breasts, but he held them under Ruby's clothes, and she watched as he opened his eyes and smiled naughtily at her, before he started playing with them, squeezing and stretching them with tender affection, eliciting a small moan from Ruby. He kissed the nape of her neck as Ruby allowed herself to be dominated by this new feeling of pleasure.

As Ruby heard each wet, sticky sound from Jet's affections, she twitched under this pleasure. She was pretty sure that Jet hadn't done anything like this before, but his movements and actions were causing Ruby to shiver as she enjoyed this sensation. His leg moved in-between hers, stroking up and down, up and down, slowly and sensually. This was such a turn on for Ruby, who whimpered a little at this tease.

It wasn't long before Jet's leg touched the wet patch on her pyjama bottoms, and she noticed his eyes widen a little, before they relaxed again. Only semi-conscious of the fact that she hadn't pleasured Jet yet, she felt her femininity being exposed to several fingers, which began to explore. She buried her mouth in Jet's chest as he begun to pump in and out, hitting a spot inside of her that made each thrust feel like a jolt of electricity.

With each push, Ruby moaned, though the sound was muffled by Jet's shoulder. He began to pump faster and faster, the feelings becoming more and more vivid as Ruby bucked her hips. Something was beginning to near her entrance from within, and Ruby cried out into her lover's shoulder as her whole body went into spasms, tightened up, and then blackness overtook her mind and body.

* * *

When Ruby next awoke, it was morning, and she noticed that she was wearing a new pair of pyjamas, though she didn't remember changing into them. Jet was already awake, and she noticed that he was stroking her hair again.

"W-what happened?" Ruby asked, knowing Jet would catch her drift.

"You had possibly one of the strongest orgasms I have ever seen." Jet responded. "You fell asleep afterwards, and I had to change your clothes, because everything under there was soaked. We're lucky Dennis didn't awaken during that."

"An orgasm?" Ruby questioned, looking confused. "What's that?" She'd never heard of one of those before.

"It's your climax. It's what happens at the end of sex or masturbation for girls. I just gave you yours. Are you seriously telling me you haven't heard of them?" Jet asked, incredulous.

"No, but whatever you did felt really good." Ruby replied, yawning and stretching. "I didn't get to do anything for you though." she said sadly.

"Don't worry, pleasuring you is pleasure enough for me." Jet reassured. He stretched himself, before he looked up at Ruby, having sunk a little in his sleep and thus being at a lower height than her. "Did I do well? I've never done that before, you know." he admitted in a quiet voice, a small blush creeping along his cheeks.

Ruby only had to remember those feeling he evoked to know her response.

"You honestly did better than I've ever done myself." Ruby replied. "That's probably the first time I've ever had that… orgasm." She noticed a sheepish looking grin on her lover.

"Well, now I know for the future." Jet said. "I assume you want a repeat performance in the foreseeable future?"

Ruby considered this. She hadn't really gotten to play with Jet, and they had run the risk of being caught by Dennis. Perhaps a little later, then, when they had returned to Beacon.

Beacon. Where her team right now missed her. Where she should be.

"Yes." Ruby answered, feeling sadness creep into her voice, and she watched as Jet raised himself so that they were eye to eye.

"Thinking about Beacon, and your team?" he inquired, and Ruby nodded. His own sadness shone on his face. "I hope they forgive me too. It would be one of the worst curses on my life ever if I have to continue this feud with Yang."

"Feud?" Ruby repeated, not sure of that word's meaning.

"Conflict." Jet replied.

"You know, you'll have to change too." Ruby said, staring into Jet's eyes. "You'll have to accept Yang's protectiveness for what it is. Let her protect me." She noticed them harden a little.

"And if she loses control of herself and hurts me, or more importantly, you? What then?" he asked.

"If she attacks you, don't retaliate." Ruby answered, hoping that Jet would follow her advice. "Don't wind her up. Watch her eyes. That's the best way to tell. She's normally very nice."

"You miss one important point. If she hurts _you_." Jet pressed, heavy emphasis on the last word.

"Stay out of it." Ruby replied firmly, determined to get her point across. "I'll deal with it by myself."

"And if I think you can't? If I think you can't deal with anything that Yang, or anyone, puts on you?" he asked.

"Stay out." Ruby answered. "But if I call for your help, that's when you get involved. Got it?"

Jet held her gaze firmly, almost as if he was searching her for any doubt in her words. Ruby remained firm, and after a few more moments, he relented, blinking and turning to look at the ceiling.

"Okay." he said in his firm tone. "I have absolute trust in you. I'll remain as the shadow by your side. I won't disrupt anything you decide to do, save for what you call me for. Just remember that when you need help, it's always there. I'll always be somewhere on Remnant, and all you need do is call for me."

Ruby reached out and turned him towards her so that he was looking at her.

"And I want you by my side." Ruby replied. "Whenever you're around, I feel safe. I know I can trust you. You haven't lied to me, and I don't think you'll start. And I know that if something goes wrong, all I need to do is call for you, and you appear by my side, ready to protect me. We are the Roses of Darkness, after all. Just remember to call for me if you need me as well."

"Ruby, I will." Jet promised, before bringing her to a hug.

* * *

They stayed like that for a solid minute, each merely enjoying the company of the other, before Jet finally released her, and Ruby shook a large black feather out of her hair that had come from Jet's wings, and she watched as Jet got up out of bed.

A familiar smell touched her nostrils, and she gazed up.

"Breakfast smells like it's up. Fancy some pancakes with the most sugary maple syrup I've ever had?" Jet asked with a grin.

He barely saw Ruby shoot past him, but he looked neither shocked nor surprised.


	16. Chapter 16 - A Deeper Darkness

At Jet's insistence, Dennis took him and Ruby to the nearest training arena in order to hone their skills. They'd expected it to be harder to get a place, but to their amazement, they found that one of them had a vacancy for an entire day. Upon their arrival, Dennis had immediately paired Jet and Ruby against each-other, with his excuse being 'to watch the machinery'.

Now, Ruby stood on one side, Jet on the other. It was impossible to stare into those green eyes without feeling nervous. He had incredible power, and was hands down one of the best fighters Ruby ever knew. She'd even heard about his duel with Ozpin, not only holding his own but nearly winning, the only reason he lost being a drop in his guard.

That wasn't to say Ruby held herself low either. On the contrary, despite Jet's strength, she was strong too, and Jet wasn't invulnerable. If she fought him right, she would come out on top.

She rehearsed the battle plan she'd came up with on the way to the arena.

Jet's attacks were stronger than normal, and he could also use other people's semblances, but his attacks and defences came at the cost of a little of his aura each time. He could restore himself up to full aura with a super-activation of his Dharc armour, but that was a double edged sword. Ruby knew that if he did that, his aura would restore, yes, but it would deplete more rapidly, and Jet had no way to restore it beyond his super-activations.

All Ruby needed to do was make sure that she didn't get hit too many times by his attacks and force him to use his aura in defence, and eventually she'd be able to break his armour and aura and take the match. The question was, how long would that be?

She stared Jet down once again. She knew he was waiting. The moment she stepped towards him, he'd attack. She unfolded her beloved Crescent Rose, and watched as he mirrored her movements, Midnight Rose appearing from shadows billowing around Jet. She shivered, something that always seemed to happen when she saw that duplicate of her own weapon.

Jet's wings extended from behind him too. Ruby paused, having forgotten that he could indeed fly, but remembered that Jet rarely took flight while fighting. It made him slow in the air, something he couldn't afford as a liability, especially against a fast opponent like Ruby. He pointed his scythe, fully extended, at Ruby, and made one statement, one that carried great meaning to some, but not to Ruby, until much later.

"Remember, no plan survives first contact with the enemy."

Ruby was about to retort when something stopped her. Did Jet know she had formulated a battle plan?

Ruby took the first move, and triggered her semblance before flying at Jet, scythe blade whirling in her classic frontal attack. Jet deflected it, his aura dropping a little, and watched as Ruby came to a halt behind him, before she spun around and charged again, this time aiming at Jet's back with a downward swipe. Once again, Jet blocked, and Ruby followed up with several more slashes, spinning on the spot in constant motion to avoid his inevitable retaliation.

Only it never came.

Jet warped after her third strike to the opposite side of the arena, and Ruby paused, watching as he adopted that same ready stance, emotionless. Why wasn't he attacking?

She checked his aura, and sat that he'd barely dropped below 90%. She remained at 100%, as Jet hadn't done any damage back yet. What was he doing?

Shaking her head, Ruby charged for the third time at high speeds. The only reason Jet had been able to block her attacks thus far was because he had Ruby's semblance too, and could respond with the same speed. Ruby swung at his side, and overextended. She could almost see Jet's counter coming as if in slow motion. The haft of Midnight Rose deflected her blade, and at the same time, the laser blade slashed Ruby's leg, the flash of her aura indicating a hit.

Stopping behind Jet, who still hadn't moved, Ruby watched as her aura indicator came to rest at 75%, where Jet's stopped at 85%. So that was his counter-plan. He was waiting for her to make mistakes, and would conserve his limited aura for blocking her good attacks. In that case, it was time to turn up the pressure, with a couple of moves he wasn't expecting.

Ducking a purple fireball that was flung in her direction from Jet, she once again triggered her semblance and began to run in circles around Jet, taking occasional swipes here and there. Jet flawlessly repelled each attack, but his aura depleted rapidly, the critical side-effect of his aura fuelled offense and defence.

Ruby noticed him beginning to shine red as his aura dropped to 45% and realised with a jolt that he was about to use the Red Pulse. Said realisation came a moment too late, as Jet unleashed it point-blank, blasting Ruby away and cutting her aura, dropping it to around 40%, whereas Jet now had 30% left.

She watched Jet now, as he traced a large circle in the air in front of him, one that glowed red. As soon as he completed the circle, his aura dropped to 5%. Was this a new attack?

"Try this on for size!" Jet yelled. "Deus Down!"

The circle exploded with a red blast of force that extended in all directions from Jet like a plume of foul, crimson miasma. Ruby felt it rush around her, but it had no effect, until she felt every nerve ending set alight with pain. She cried out and curled up into a ball against this searing pain, and heard Jet yell in pain as well. Mercifully, it ebbed after a few seconds. Standing back up, she saw Jet rise, glowing red due to his low aura.

"What was-" Ruby asked, before her eyes were drawn to the aura indicators. Hers was 5% too!

"That's Deus Down, a power I unlocked through intense hatred." Jet explained, readying Midnight Rose. "By cutting my Aura down to low levels, I can do the same to you, and it's inescapable. And now," he said, surrounding himself in familiar, deep shadows, "it's time for this to end."

He became invisible to Ruby, who was still shocked. He'd never used a power of the dark god against her before, and if that was just one of them… Ruby broke out into a cold sweat at the memory of the pain she'd just underwent. It felt like every cell in her body had been set ablaze, then cooled rapidly like hot iron. Ruby stiffly readied Crescent Rose as she watched Jet's aura restore itself. This was not good.

"From the void it comes, a persona of emptiness and despair! Rise forth from the depths and stand by my side! Jet Black Phantom!" Jet roared, and a keening cry from the suit that Ruby knew was there sounded out. Ruby looked up as he emerged from the shadow, purplish armour and Astro Reaper all present.

Ruby immediately ran at Jet despite her tiredness. She knew that this suit had very powerful ranged attacks, and did not want to give Jet an excuse to use them. He opening swipe was deflected by a purple shield, and she was forced to leap over the returning swipe from Astro Reaper, ducking under an ice blast fired from a dust crystal, jumping over another, blocking Astro Reaper again, and swiping at Jet's chest only for it to be blocked by the shield again. Jet followed with a one handed swipe at Ruby that was ducked, but his other hand shot out and grabbed Ruby's leg!

She felt herself being whipped up and slammed into the ground, chest first, only seeing the aura indicator drop to one single line on the bar, before a crashing blow on the small of her back blasted through her aura and ended it.

At once, she felt the scythe in Jet's hands disappear, and the arms that lifted her to her feet didn't have armour on them. She felt herself roll over until they were face to face, and felt his minty breath as he held her close.

"I'll never get used to using my powers against you, my sweet." he whispered.

"You have to. For practise, right?" Ruby whispered back, trying to reassure him.

"Yeah." he replied. Ruby pulled his head closer and kissed him, before she forced him to put her down. She then waved at Dean in the stands, wanting him to come. He got the message, and leaped over the barrier into the arena.

"You knew, didn't you?" Ruby asked him. "About my plan."

He replied with a wry smile, and Ruby had her answer. To think her own boyfriend could not only see straight through her and counter her battle plan. Ruby understood now what he'd meant when he said 'no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy'.

"Your turn to face him." she insisted, as Jet splashed her with the healing power. Dennis had a grin on his face.

"Yer both partners right?" he asked.

"Always." Jet replied, a little breathlessly.

"Then ye both face me. I have a few tricks o' me own." he said, before walking to the other side of the arena.

"Is he nuts?" Jet asked Ruby from beside her. "After what he saw?"

"Let's see." Ruby said, grinning as Jet caught her drift, and looked at Dennis.

* * *

Two scythes unfolded. Two Roses gazed upon their enemy. Two minds analysed him.

The Roses of Darkness looked upon Dennis, and he had to admit to himself, he felt a little cowed by the intimidating sight of the two lovers, including his old pupil. Still, he would give them the best fight he could.


	17. Chapter 17 - The Roses of Darkness

As one, Jet and Ruby ran at the unarmed Dennis, scythes outstretched. Ruby struck first, firing a bullet from her scythe to gain momentum and swinging towards the right. Dennis evaded the deadly metal blade but was slashed by Jet in return, who caused a blazing slash across his aura-covered chest from the other side. The two attacked in tandem, Dennis blocking one only for the other to hit him.

The pair swirled around him in dark shadows, no doubt of Jet's semblance, neither being hit by Dennis' wild kicks into the abyss. Ruby emerged from the shadows and struck once, twice, three times. Dennis blocked all three and punched the small girl in the chest quickly, causing her to fall back into the dark tornado surrounding him. He turned just in time to get knocked flying by a red laser blast from Jet, who stood behind him, palm outstretched.

Dennis leaped back, but his two opponents kept up the pressure, preventing him from catching even a breath. A fireball from Jet that he took with his aura to duck a swipe from Ruby, then leaped out of a whirlwind of steel from Jet only to be hit from behind from Ruby, god knows how she got there so quickly.

He managed to escape and ran back a bit, thankfully they didn't pursue him. Dennis watched as Jet and Ruby stopped and turned towards him. They had barely taken any damage at all, even the solid blow he'd dealt Ruby only amounting to 5% of her aura. Jet was down to 70%, though Dennis knew that was due to self-inflicted damage more than anything Dennis had done.

He felt his own aura struggling weakly, and the 5% indicator meant that even with his experience, these two far out-classed him now. This was insane.

* * *

Jet caught his breath even as Ruby stood next to him, both watching their opponent started to glow with a similar red light to Jet when he was in peril. Jet let out a gasp. Of course!

"Ah shoot." Jet cursed, as the glow increased in both brightness and power.

"What?" Ruby asked, turning to look at him.

"Remember how I gain armour when my aura's low?" Jet replied, as Dennis' form within the light began to grow. "That seems to be a common trend here. Most people, they fight unarmed, until their aura is low, then they transform, restore their aura, and that's the true fight."

"Transform?" Ruby asked, worried, as the form of Dennis began to grow. Horns appeared on its head.

"Be careful. This is how I got so strong, because most of my early fights were with these guys." Jet warned. They watched as the light faded, revealing Dennis in a truly demonic form.

His crimson skin pulsed with strength behind bronze, wickedly spiked armour. Dennis hair had grown to tattered locks which flowed loosely around two bone white horns that had burst from his skull. His eyes were now a blood red colour, and he grinned as he brandished a sword with a blade the length of Crescent Rose. He now stood at twice the height of Jet, and truly looked intimidating.

The demon bull-rushed Jet with alarming speed, slamming into him and forcing him to shield it even as Ruby dodged out of the way. She twirled Crescent Rose and slammed into Dennis, connecting with him multiple times, though his aura blocked all of them as he continued raining blow after blow on the dazed Jet, his incredible defences truly being put to the test. Ruby realized that she was useless against this enemy!

"Ruby, MOVE!" Jet yelled, and Ruby knew what was coming. She dived out of the way as his Red Pulse blasted Dennis away, knocking him flat on his back. Looking up, Ruby saw their opponent rise and look at her, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jet rise out of the corner of her eye and meet her gaze. He quickly signalled for her to come to him, and she obeyed, using her semblance to dodge past Dennis.

'_We have to use Danse Macabre. That's the best way to beat him_.' Ruby heard in her head. She nodded, watching as Dennis turned around. She felt Midnight Rose near her feet, and braced herself. Whilst she hated that feeling of dark power, sometimes it was necessary to obtain victory for the forces of good. Even to the point of self-sacrifice.

Ruby stepped onto the blade and prepared to spin as she was lifted up. She was at one with Jet. Ready to unleash a power beyond normality.

"Try this, Dennis! Final Phase!" Jet yelled, and Ruby saw the familiar tornado formed around them. "Danse Macabre!"

The shadows emanated outwards as they spun, Ruby hearing a yell that only meant Dennis had been hit by the attack. As soon as they died down, Ruby looked for their opponent.

He hadn't taken a single point of damage.

"Try again, pipsqueaks!" he roared, smashing both of them with one long sweep of his sword. Ruby and Jet were sent flying, both slamming painfully against the wall. Ruby watched her aura go down to 50%, while Jet neared critical at 5%. She got up, but then saw Jet struggling to rise. This was a problem. How was she going to beat Dennis without Jet? Ruby really wanted to give Jet the win, but she knew her attacks did nothing for Jet.

She had to figure out a way to revitalise or heal him. But there was no… way?

An idea formed in Ruby's head, and she gulped visibly once she realised what it entailed. She whispered in Jet's ear as he stared Dennis down.

"Jet, use Dark Ultimatum." she whispered.

"What?!" Jet hissed back. "Ruby, I will not sacrifice you!"

"I'm useless against this guy." Ruby muttered. "Besides, I'd give you more than my aura if it meant we could finally win the whole thing. Remember what I said last night? Let me help you more, Jet!"

She meant that statement.

"On your wish be it. I'll trust you." Jet said sadly, as Ruby stood in front of him, ready for his strike.

"You two lovebirds stop twitterin' yet?" Dennis asked. "C'mon Jet, let's dance."

"I will. But first, I need to end my girlfriend's suffering at the hands of this combat." Jet replied, and Ruby watched his shadow raise the scythe. "Dark Ultimatum!"

Ruby felt the slash across her back. Almost instantly, she collapsed in agony as the pain set her nerves alight in a cold fire. She curled up into a ball as it slowly died down, but looked up to see her own aura having been eliminated, and Jet's being restored to full.

She watched with grim satisfaction as Dennis stood there, speechless.

"Now fall!" Jet roared as he ran at the giant, who raised his sword uncertainly. With a radiating aura, Jet swung Midnight Rose, whose laser blade crashed through the aura protecting him, striking one, two, three, four, five blows in a brutal combination of slashes, stabs and swipes with his scythe.

His opponent, though twice his size, fell back under the powerful assault, his aura plummeting. He did his best to block the lightning quick attacks made by Jet, but where he made one movement to block with his giant sword, Jet made three attacks, Midnight Rose making trails and flashes through the air when the blade connected.

Considering it had only been yesterday that his arm had been injured, Ruby wondered if Jet was feeling any pain because of it. She finally stood up, the pain diminishing bit by bit, her aura slowly returning after having been drained by Dark Ultimatum.

Ruby saw Dennis' aura drop harshly again, and marvelled at the strength she'd given to Jet. She was still feeling a harsh sting, but she was able to stand now. She noticed that Jet's aura was plummeting towards zero as she did so, but she didn't panic. Dennis had already transformed, Jet hadn't. This match was as good as theirs.

"Now for what you expected me to do before!" Jet yelled, putting distance between himself and his opponent before surrounding himself in shadows for the second time. "Come forth, Jet Black Phantom!"

The Dharc armour materialised with a flash that dispelled the shadows around it, and Jet immediately fired off a hailstorm of icy blasts from the dust crystals behind him, providing an impossible-to-dodge blizzard that froze Dennis in place. For all the giant's strength, he couldn't break free, and a second blast knocked his weapon from his hand.

He could only watch as Jet strode towards him and raised Astro Reaper, before he was hit so hard that his legs were smashed out of the icy locks Jet had placed on him. His aura finally spent, Dennis began to shrink as his skin resumed its normal colour. Jet turned and walked back to Ruby as the man behind him smoked from the blow he had dealt. He bent low, still in his armour, and whispered in her ear as he passed.

"He never stood a chance against us. Such is the power of the Roses of Darkness."

He said us. Even though Ruby hadn't participated much in the main part of the fight.

It truly showed how much Jet valued her presence.


	18. Chapter 18 - Fear

Later that afternoon, Ruby and Jet flew (riding on Jet's back in Ruby's case) for the shadier part of the massive Theyl Nocturne, where Jet needed to find someone. He'd given Ruby a harrowing warning that the general 'scumbags of the populace' lived there, and that they were to be on guard.

As Ruby watched another group of kids point up at her and Jet, she felt a small surge of self-consciousness. They were plainly visible to loads of people. And while being with Jet had worked wonders on her social skills (Jet hadn't let it go once he'd overheard Yang talking about it – damn his hearing) she still felt a little nervous in front of a crowd.

"Jet, can you fly down a less crowded place?" Ruby asked with a blush as they soared over a street filled with people.

"Or I could just turn on my invisibility via time-stop." Jet responded. "I'd rather save my energy though."

"Please." Ruby pleaded, and she waited for the world to turn grey. It did not, however.

"Which would you rather, less embarrassment or less ability in combat if something goes wrong?" Jet queried, and to Ruby, he sounded irritable. Did his semblances really take up that much energy?

As though he'd read Ruby's mind, Jet answered Ruby's unspoken question.

"My copied semblances take more energy and concentration to use than normal. I can use them, granted, but it really takes it out of me." he explained. "And believe me, I want all the energy I can get. I've got a bad feeling about this."

As they travelled closer and closer to their destination, Jet seemed to grow more and more agitated, though Ruby only knew because she knew the unconscious cues that Jet gave.

* * *

They soon reached a set of buildings on the outskirts of the city. Jet was instantly reminded of the cul-de-sac he'd spent his early days in, though these were more run down, like corpses well past their initial deaths and emitting their foul decay as a miasma to the eyes. He felt the reassuring weight of Ruby on his back as he prepared to land. While the girl herself didn't know it, her mere presence was like a depressant to his nerves here.

He landed on a section of mossy pavement outside an aged house, one that looked as if its own disease had set in. Green patches of plant life grew like parasites upon the greying bricks. The door was ajar, and Jet didn't have to have the most sensitive nose to smell something on the air, though he couldn't quite tell.

"Be on your guard, sweetheart." Jet warned, summoning Midnight Rose and Ember Graves, and feeling them combine into Ember Roses: Pain and Agony (he'd altered the name slightly in almost reverence to Ruby, though he'd never tell her that). The lightweight mechanised claws clicked, their sharp blades slicing through the air, the buzzing of the railguns as Jet lightly squeezed the firing buttons from within the claws mirroring his thoughts.

He turned just in time to see Ruby flinch at the sight of them.

"What's wrong?" he asked, as he flexed his claws.

"Those remind me of that time in the cave… where you went crazy." Ruby replied. Jet hissed in response. It wasn't a pleasant memory, watching Flux do what she did through his own eyes, not having any control. It sickened him.

"I'm in control now. Don't worry." Jet reassured as they approached the house. It wasn't especially big, only two floors, but Jet now sensed what had touched his nostrils earlier.

Blood.

Not good.

He grasped the door expertly with his right claw, intending to open the door, but it fell inwards with a bang that startled Jet, Ruby, and some pigeons that were nestling above on the roof. Upon closer examination, it had been ripped off its hinges. He turned back to Ruby.

"Ripped off its hinges. Do you smell that?" he asked.

"Blood." Ruby replied softly. "Jet, what are we here for?"

Jet gulped a little. He'd have to bend the truth, for her sake.

"Someone owes me something." Jet replied, a little too harshly, he thought. He said, in a softer voice, "I'm here for it."

There was silence behind him for a moment, Jet having tuned back to keep an eye on the potential danger. Finally, after several moments, he heard Ruby's reply.

"I trust you Jet. Just be careful." It sounded heartfelt.

"I will. In and out." he replied, before taking the first step into the house. He heard the click clack of Ruby switching her scythe into gun form. '_I'll handle the close quarters stuff. Can you watch my back?_' he sent via telepathy, and kept the channel open, so that they could converse in silence.

'_One step ahead of ya_.' came Ruby's reply.

'_We talk like this. Only speak out loud if we're compromised_.' he thought.

_'Compromised?_' she thought back, and Jet sighed inwardly.

'_Spotted by an enemy or if they know we're here._' Jet responded. They walked down the entrance hall into the living room. What they saw made Jet nearly gasp in surprise.

* * *

The normally upkept furniture of the house was slashed, fluff everywhere, little pitter-patters of bloody drops peppering the floor. Jet spotted two corpses in the center, partially hidden by bits of furniture, the bloody floor and carpet telling the story of two brutal deaths, especially as one of the corpses arms and legs were badly shredded. It was only when he rounded the sofa, guns pointed at them, that he truly lost the battle with his stomach.

The first dead man lay, arms and legs shredded by what looked like teeth and claw marks. His throat bore a cavernous hole, which could only have been ripped out. His face was frozen in a shocked 'o', his tongue having rolled back into his throat. The man he lay on top of had been ripped in half by the waistline, his innards trailing underneath the first corpse. Blood pooled around them, though they had long since exhausted their life's substance upon the wooden boards of their resting place.

'_Ruby, don't lo-'_ Jet sent hurriedly, before his stomach instantly rebelled against him and unleashed its contents like a cannon. Jet turned away quickly and triggered Ruby's semblance dizzily to rush over to a corner before he was violently sick, feeling his breakfast exit his body in a physical manifestation of disgust as he knelt to stabilize himself, detaching his claws and throwing them aside.

He heard Ruby give a soft 'ee' just as he finished the first heave of his stomach, and the fear he felt turned into another sickening lurch which forced yet more out of his mouth. Using as much willpower as he could muster, he prevented further heaves, and felt a shaking little hand on his back. With a cough and a spit, he turned to Ruby, who was now gripping his shoulders.

"Oh gosh, are you okay?" Ruby asked, concern evident in her voice. Jet said nothing, instead conjuring some of his healing liquid which he gulped down. It tasted revolting, like the rotting carcass of a fish combined with the nastiest medicine you could taste. Fighting his stomach's attempt to expel what he'd just tasted, Jet looked back at Ruby, feeling the soothing effect of the liquid on his stomach.

"Do you have anything sweet?" he asked.

"Um." Ruby said, thinking. Jet realised with a jolt that they were now speaking aloud, though there again, someone would have heard him throwing up. "No." she said. Dammit. "Wait, hold on." Ruby said, reaching into her back pockets, pulling out a doobleberry. Jet took it with a nod of thanks and ate it, feeling the familiar sweetness dispel the curse of revulsion on his tongue.

"Sorry." Jet apologised. "That was a shock for me." He turned back to the bodies, and felt his stomach behave normally now. "I didn't come here expecting to see death."

"Don't be silly, Jet." Ruby said reproachfully, and Jet had the sense that he was being scolded. "I'd probably be sick too if I looked."

"Wait, you hadn't?" Jet asked, surprised. Ruby had her back to the carnage, not looking back for a second.

"Remember what I said? I trust you. If you said not to look, I won't." Ruby replied with a reassuring smile. Wow. Ruby really had a surge of maturity in the last couple of months, based on what Jet was seeing.

"Just don't look in the center of this room." Jet said, after a brief pause. Ruby nodded, then gestured to a set of stairs that Jet hadn't noticed to his right. He nodded in understanding, then, readying his claws once more, pressed onwards, wary for signs of further bloodshed as they ascended the creaking stairs.

* * *

Upon reaching the top flights, they heard wheezing coming from a bedroom to the right of them, and looked the other way to see more blood coming from the bedroom opposite. Jet pointed at the bedroom with the wheezing coming from it, and Ruby nodded in response. She was completely focussed.

This place was scary, but she was more concerned about two things. Jet, and the possible threats within the place. Jet still looked a little shaky, but his claws remained steady, and right now, that was what mattered. They still didn't know who, or what, had committed this, and whether they were still here. As a result, Ruby didn't have time or chance to show fear.

Jet raised one of his claws and held up three blades.

One went down. Ruby braced herself.

A second lowered. Ruby cocked Crescent Rose.

The third followed. Jet raised his closed fist.

SMASH!

Jet punched the door off its hinges with an ear-splitting crash, and they rushed into the bedroom, guns ready.


	19. Chapter 19 - Cold, Warmth, and Cold

The room was mostly empty. Literally. The only things there were the wooden floorboards. No windows. The only light came from a flickering LED light on the ceiling. The wheezing sound too, and Jet noticed the source within moments. A thin, wiry man with a denim jacket and jeans lay propped against the wall. His grey hair was matted with blood, and a deep slice in his side was plainly visible.

The breath of this man came loudly, and as Jet studied his pointed face and amber eyes, he recognised the man. The one he'd been looking for.

"Phoenix?" he asked, kneeling by his side. "Ruby, keep watch on the door." he ordered, and to his amazement, she complied without question, taking point. Jet turned his attention back to the man, who'd sat up a little straighter, clutching his wound.

"I knew you'd… come eventually… kid." he said in-between wheezes. "Been… holding… out, for as long… as I… could."

"Does that mean-" Jet queried, staring into his acquaintance's eyes for conformation, but he interrupted with a large and loud coughing fit.

"Yes." he said, after it died down. "Touch me… and take it."

Jet immediately touched his skin from a rip in his jeans, and felt the man's semblance being copied. He closed his eyes as he felt, smelt, heard, and tasted the power. That exquisite feeling could only mean one thing. It was genuine.

"What happened to you and your men?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"Snipers." came the reply, followed by another cough. "There was this girl. Came in and decimated us. Got… blades for hands… a stinger… damn freak."

"I see." Jet replied, and stood, eyes still closed. Something new was being added to his senses. It was if he could feel his surroundings, even though his eyes were closed.

"Burn this place. Make… sure… none of it…" Phoenix gasped, and gave a final death rattle, before he was silent. Jet didn't have to open his eyes to know he was dead. He turned and walked in a direction he thought was where Ruby was. After a couple of paces, he reached out and felt her near him. He thrust outwards and grasped her shoulder, hearing a gasp and feeling her gaze.

"Is it over?" she asked.

"Yes." Jet shortly answered. "It was Flux."

"Flux?" she sounded confused. "Jet, why do you have your eyes closed?"

"It's his semblance. I'm just testing it. Let's get out of here. We'll talk more when we're out." Jet replied quickly, already sensing the stairs and leading the way downstairs.

"No argument here." he heard his love right behind him.

* * *

Dennis was having one of few peaceful days nowadays. With Jet and Ruby gone, he'd sat down and began his usual routine of cleaning the kitchen. He may not have looked it, but Dennis was a man who cared about hygiene, especially whilst eating.

His stupor was interrupted with a loud crash from the living room area, and he turned around to see Jet and Ruby rolling into the sofa with a yell of pain from Jet. Did he just-

"I told you that was glass!" Ruby shouted. Seems like they'd been arguing about something.

"Sorry if I can't see or change my course while flying that fast!" Jet yelled back, perching himself on the sofa and rubbing his head. Ruby sat next to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked with a concerned voice. It was then that Dennis noticed the smashed window that Jet had just come plummeting through. Luckily, glass was cheap here, but still…

He cleared his throat, and both turned.

"Yer alright?" he asked, walking over to them and retrieving a dustpan and brush from nearby.

"Let's just say, if I broke through it that easily, how the heck are you still alive?" Jet reprimanded, and Dennis cursed inwardly as he swept up the glass. Jet had recommended he get tougher windows.

"Lil' bit different when some idiot flies through 'em." he countered.

"Touché." was Jet's only reply.

As Dennis continued to sweep up glass shards, he overheard the ensuing conversation between Jet and Ruby.

"So what happened to them?" Ruby asked.

A pause. Then-

"They were murdered. The two in the first room were killed by two people with purple tinged skin and glowing yellow eyes. Phoenix's men guarding him in the room we didn't enter were shot by sniper rifles. Phoenix himself was killed by Flux after being cut to shreds by those purple skinned people."

"Does that mean-"

"Yes. Either Flux was there for a random act of bloodshed, or she's enacted a counter to my initial plan of stopping her."

"Well, I guess we need to hurry. Why were your eyes closed when we went out?"

"I went for Phoenix's semblance, one he'd agreed to give me. Now, I can sense my surroundings. I can close my eyes like this and know what's around me. I can still 'see' you like this."

Dennis turned, having thought of an idea as he emptied the now full dustpan into the dustbin. He crept slowly behind Jet, putting a finger to his lips and looking meaningfully at Ruby. She nodded, and kept talking to Jet as he raised a fist, waving her hand for him.

"What am I doing then?" she asked.

"Two things." Jet replied. "Waving your hand, and distracting me for-"

Dennis swung his fist, aiming for the back of Jet's head. He ducked, and Dennis followed through, both punching Ruby in the chest, knocking her off her perch on the chair, and overbalancing himself before falling over. Both hit the wooden floorboards with a heavy thump.

"…that." Jet finished. He got up and stretched, before walking over Ruby and to the door leading to the bedrooms. "I'm going in the shower. Oh, and by the way," he turned, now with his eyes open, "I have a 360 degree vision with this ability. Later."

He left, closing the door.

"That's amazing." Ruby said in awe, massaging her stomach where Dennis hit her.

"Lucky bastard." Dennis mumbled embarrassedly.

* * *

Jet walked into the warm water of the shower, smiling to himself as he recollected what had just happened. He had sensed Ruby's hand as it waved for him, and felt the nagging presence of Dennis right before he struck. Although the timing of Jet's duck was pure luck, he wouldn't admit it to those two. Cheeky things.

He heard through the curtain someone opening the door, and hissed involuntarily. He closed his eyes, attempting to sense who it was, but the steam of the shower blocked it, causing nothing but a heavy fog when Jet reached out with his senses. He heard it close again, before a little voice he knew all so well came through the fog.

"C-can I join you?" Ruby asked.

Jet's eyes snapped open. If this was a trick, he might kill something.

"Why would-" he tried to answer coolly, but he knew from the start that there was nothing wrong. Who was he kidding? He'd already explored her body, and had bathed with her before (though with bathing suits). What could possibly go wrong? "Sure you can, but I'm not wearing anything in here."

"I'm not either." Ruby replied, and she pulled open the curtains before standing on the opposite of the translucent glass door. Her pale skin was plainly visible, as was her figure, but thankfully, no details.

"Good thing this screen works." Jet muttered to himself as Ruby opened the glass door. What he saw blew his mind into orbit.

Ruby's smooth and slender body shone in the steam and light of the shower. Her skin was pale like his own, and Jet saw no mark or blemish on her. Her breasts were not overly large, but Jet was somewhat glad. He hated it when girls showed off how ginormous their breasts were (did he seriously just use the word_ ginormous_ even if it was in his thoughts?) and Ruby's were nice.

She wandered towards him, and he shifted back slightly so she could be under the water.

"And here I thought I was going to see nothing." Jet remarked as she sidled up next to him, looking slightly downward into her eyes. She blushed a little. Thank goodness for his quick mouth.

"Jeeeet." she groaned, and Jet smiled despite himself. "I thought you were better than that."

"I'm just messing with you, you adorable little thing." Jet chided, but Ruby splashed him in the face with water she'd cupped in her hands.

"I thought we'd get to wash each other." Ruby said, as Jet shook the water out of his eyes and face. "I can't do my back, and you can wash my hair again; you did such a good job last time."

"Well, I'm not one to displease." Jet said reassuringly, and was about to ask who should wash who first, when Ruby turned and waited, almost expectantly. "'Ladies first' it is." Jet muttered to himself.

He started on Ruby's back. Grabbing the soap and working it into a lather, he pressed his hands onto Ruby's back, and she leaned against the wall as he began to wash her. He worked slowly, massaging with soapy hands and following with warm water from the shower head. Ruby's skin was as smooth as he'd pictured her. Some might not call her perfect, but she was to Jet, and to Deus with them.

He knelt as he moved downwards, concentrating more on her legs. As he wrapped his hands around her left leg, he felt no errant hairs. Did that mean that Ruby shaved her legs often? As he continued, this time with her right leg, he noticed her wiggle her bum a little. Like her breasts, her 'cheeks' were small, almost leaving him to see-

Jet immediately closed his eyes and attempted to use his new semblance again. To his great relief, it worked when Ruby was closer, and he continued to work without fear now. If he saw Ruby's genitals, he might lose control over the urges that were fighting to spring to the surface.

"Jet, I know you're avoiding my bottom." Ruby said. Dammit. "I trust you. Please wash me. ALL of me."

"If you insist, though you inherit all the risks associated with that." Jet replied, moving to her bottom and hearing her gasp a little.

"I know. I also want your eyes open." Ruby added.

"Well, guess you're more comfortable with being seen by me than I am myself." Jet remarked, and opened his eyes. Ruby turned around, allowing him to see her front. Damn him if, as a man, he didn't want to ravish that cute body.

"I trust you." she repeated. She was smiling reassuringly as he began on her belly.

"You're almost too cute, you know? You're lucky I have a will of iron." Jet said, looking up at her between her exposed breasts. She returned his gaze, her silver eyes shining in the pale light.

"Just wash me, dummy." she said, and Jet didn't reply, instead focussing on his task, which was to both wash and pleasure the stunningly beautiful girl that he'd fallen in love with barely a week after first meeting her.

Soon after this, Jet finished, and Ruby took the soap from him. Jet turned around, and felt her press her hands onto his own back. He felt Ruby move up and down his back in a sweeping technique, moving around his wings, and wondered briefly if she'd done this before. After washing his back off, he felt Ruby run a finger down a scar he knew he had that diagonally went from his right shoulder to the center of his back, tracing the line.

"What happened here?" she asked as she worked on his legs.

"Did Dennis tell you about how I saved his life?" Jet asked. "That was where the Death-stalker stinger hit me."

It had been one of the most painful injuries he'd suffered, and Jet had felt serious pain before. As Ruby turned Jet around and began working on his front, he saw the machine that replaced his heart. That machine had saved his life on numerous occasions.

"Ah!" Jet suddenly exclaimed. Ruby had softly wrapped her hand around his hard on! Jet felt his red pulse instantly start to charge, the shock having set it off. Releasing it as a small wave of force, he instantly wrenched it out of Ruby's grip. She looked up worriedly. "Please don't do that. I might really lose it." he said, almost pleadingly.

"S-sorry." Ruby stuttered embarrassedly. "I just wanted to feel it. I mean, after all, you 've, well," Ruby blushed hard. "You've done things to mine."

"You know what they say, Ruby." Jet said, as Ruby stood up, still blushing, not meeting his eyes until Jet pulled her chin with a hand underneath. "Curiosity killed the cat. Besides, you'll get to do that when you and I are ready for me to fall prey to my darker desires."

"Darker desires?" Ruby asked with an unknowingly seductive smile, and Jet cursed inwardly.

"Well, I'm not-"

Without warning, the water turned an icy cold. Jet felt it burn him like fire even as Ruby screamed. He heard Dennis laughing in the kitchen.

"Asshole!" he yelled, knowing he would hear him. He took Ruby by the hand and raced out of the ice that moments ago had been warmth, shaking off his wings as he did so.


	20. Chapter 20 - Return to Reality

Jet jumped up high, in the bedroom, turning in the air to land with his shoulder, and slammed down onto his suitcase, hearing it lock with a reassuring click. Getting up, he turned to Ruby, who'd already finished packing and had watched the act.

"I hate packing already, but dealing with a case that fights back is infuriating." Jet remarked, wheeling it out of their bedroom. He pulled out his scroll and sent a quick text to Izzet as he continued, and noticed the number of unseen messages from his team numbered 37. Resolving to apologise later, he watched as Dennis and Ruby came to meet him at the entrance to the place.

Dennis seemed shocked at their sudden leave, but respected it, as Jet knew he would. Now, there was no time to waste. He had to return to Beacon now, as his mission now dictated. He'd gotten what he needed, and now, it was time to return. He couldn't waste any time now. If Phoenix was dead, then Flux had made her move. Time for his own.

* * *

Ruby watched Jet as they made their way to Hraesvelgr. That hard, determined look was back in his eyes, though Ruby couldn't work out why. Was it his mission? Ever since they'd been to see Phoenix, Jet seemed more purposeful. Almost as if he knew what came next in their journey, and was ready to face it.

* * *

At the airport, Dennis left them on the runway and made for the control tower to begin his shift. Jet waited until he could see them before he transformed into the large Burning Jet Venom, the compartment for his passenger opening for her, and she climbed into the rather large compartment and lay on her belly, looking out of the front window. A small green LED lit up on the side as the hatch closed behind her and she settled on the comfy leather padding in-between her and Jet.

"Comfy?" he asked, as clicking all around the suit meant it was locking for flight mode. She saw her and Jet's suitcases surround themselves in shields before attaching to the suit's wings, the engines spouting blue flames.

"Yup. Let's go." Ruby confirmed, and she felt them move, prone, along the runway. Ruby assumed that this thing had wheels for that, but was distracted by an orange light on the other side as a hiss indicated that the suit had now pressurized.

"J, you're clear for take-off. I got a special permit for you. Sayonara, buddy." Dennis reported over the comms.

"See you Dennis." Jet responded.

"Bye Dennis! Thanks for everything!" Ruby called, hoping Dennis would hear her. She heard a laugh.

"Bye little Red. Comm Tower 345, singing off." Dennis replied, before the orange light switched off.

"Let's go." Jet said, before the craft started to pick up speed, lifting off seconds later, before glowing with a purple light, and everything outside became a blur.

* * *

About an hour later, Ruby noticed the familiar sights of Vale, and soon beyond that, Beacon. To say she was nervous was an understatement. Now was the time to see if Weiss, Blake and Yang had resolved, everything they needed to resolve. Certainly, they'd had enough time to think about their actions. Mostly though, Ruby was scared about one thing.

Jet meeting Yang.

That was where Ruby was most fearful. What would happen between them?

"Hey, Jet?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he asked, as the purple light around the craft faded, and Beacon grew closer and closer.

"Please try and make up with Yang. Really try." she pleaded.

"I will, Ruby." Jet said, and Ruby was relieved. "I'll do what I can to make up. All she needs to do is reciprocate."

"Reci-what?" Ruby asked, confusedly, and she heard Jet audibly sigh underneath her.

"I should learn to stop using big words when I'm with you. It means 'give back'." he said.

* * *

As Jet prepared to land in the fields around Sunset Hill, he noticed a crowd of six up upon the snowy hill. His team. Ruby's team. Seems they all looked forward to having their leaders back.

"Okay, Ruby." Jet said, feeling the suit changing around him. The cushion in-between them disappeared into shadows and caused Ruby to land on top of him. Latches opened and Jet thrust his wings into each. "Prepare for a bit of a change in pace."

"What are you-" Ruby tried to say, but then, the whole suit disappeared into shadows, and Jet flapped his wings, feeling the wind catch them and force them up a little, before he began to soar smoothly. He saw their suitcases drop, but wasn't concerned as they were pretty close to the ground anyway.

Jet landed gracefully next to the suitcases and let Ruby off, who immediately stretched her legs. Jet meanwhile checked their surroundings, and upon finding nothing wrong, retrieved the suitcases, before he noticed a hand upon his shoulder that wasn't Ruby's. He knew whose it was when the world turned grey around them.

"Nice to see you too, Izzet." Jet spoke aloud, turning to meet her mismatched eyes. She smiled warmly at him, then gestured at the summit of the hill, where Lilac and Nouvelle would be.

'_Let's go, you said when you got back that you'd have news only for our ears._' Izzet said, and Jet nodded, leading the way up to the summit to pull the remaining two members of LIJN into this time-stop.

* * *

"Jet? JET!" Ruby called, afraid. Jet had vanished from the spot, leaving only a single note of paper. She picked it up and opened the folded note to see precise and curly handwriting.

'Jet's with us now. He'll be back. Izzet.'

Oh, so Jet was now with his team. Why then did they need a time stop?

Ruby was distracted by the figures of three people coming towards to her, approaching with great speed.

The first was Yang, who tackled her in a crushing hug, though Ruby was thankful she wasn't still angry. As she hit the snowy ground, her eyes fell upon Blake, who smiled as she usually did, though her eyes had somewhat of a hard edge. Then Weiss. She looked upon Ruby with an unusual expression, almost as if she was trying to make up her mind.

"…so happy you're okay!" Yang finished, and Ruby realised with a jolt that she'd missed Yang's entire greeting. With a grunt, she hauled herself up, only to meet Weiss' gaze.

"Ruby…" she paused. "We would like to see Jet."

* * *

"That's not possible." Jet said, shocked.

"That's exactly what I thought when Izzet first told me." Lilac replied.

They were atop Sunset Hill, and on Jet's request, Izzet had stopped time, and they held hands in a circle. The white powder Jet sat atop was still cold, as was their grey surroundings. The sun hung frozen in the sky, casing a monotone glow on their surroundings.

"So Yang understood why Ruby left with me." Jet affirmed, and both Lilac and Izzet nodded.

"We tried to contact you, to give you ze good news." Nouvelle continued. "You must 'ave been very busy not to see them."

"I'll tell you the whole story later. And now?" he asked expectantly.

"They're probably looking for us. Or at least, they will when their reunion with Ruby is done. Yang's apparently taking the blame upon herself." Lilac answered, and Jet felt a little tug in his heart for his half-sister.

"I'm not entirely blameless." Jet replied, but Izzet cut him off by shaking her head.

_'__You don't get it.'_ she sent to the three of them. _'The thing with Ruby's mother's grave really made her think. Yang's known Ruby all her life, even practically raised her like a mother. To know that Ruby trusts you more than her would be a serious shock. It's forced her to change her thinking. I think she realises that getting angry with you won't help anymore, especially with how much stronger you're getting. I think that, as a sibling, she's naturally overprotective.'_

"Even so, she's side-lining herself for Ruby." Lilac summarised, and Jet grinned at her. This could not have played out better.

"Well, I guess we'll resolve this, then you ladies and I have some stories to tell." Jet said, injecting a small drop of sassiness into his tone.

* * *

Ruby saw Jet and his team appear out of thin air at the peak of Sunset Hill. Jet was standing, the others were sitting. He looked pleased, though Ruby couldn't fathom why. As she lead the rest of her team up the hill, she watched as all four heads turned in her direction in unison. Jet stretched his wings outwards as she drew nearer, before folding them again. A loose feather fell, and Izzet caught it, before sticking it in her pocket.

"Hey Jet." Yang spoke from behind Ruby, causing her to jump a little, for the tone was somewhat downtrodden. She watched as Jet made eye contact with her sister.

"How goes it, sis?" Jet asked, keeping a normal, welcoming tone. If Ruby had to describe Yang's mood based on what she knew, it would definitely be 'surprised'.

"I need to talk to you. Just you, me, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake." Yang said, regaining her composure after a brief pause. Jet nodded, and turned to address his team, but they had already vanished.

"Feels like they know my orders before I give them." Ruby heard Jet mutter to himself. He stretched his palm towards the ground, and Ruby saw a strange golden glyph appear momentarily, before the snow on the summit quite literally vanished under a heat wave. Satisfied, Jet sat, and gestured for them to do the same. Ruby did so, noting the hesitance of her teammates before they too, sat down. She sat in-between Weiss and Yang, and they formed a kind of semi-circle in front of Jet.

"Mind if I start?" Yang asked. Jet nodded, and she took a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you, when Ruby told me that she'd invited you to go with her to her mother's grave, I was… well, shocked. Ruby always goes with me, you see, and for her to choose someone else over me was eye opening. What she told me after that was heart-breaking, the fact that you had replaced me."

"Ruby was crying about it afterwards." Jet said, and Ruby nodded at Yang's sideways look. "It was one of the hardest things for her to say." How did he know?

"Afterwards," Yang continued, "I thought for a really long time. I guess you could say it's one of the only times I think so much about something. I want Ruby to be happy. And if she's happy with you, then I understand. But you've caused her pain, and that makes me angry, because you present a threat that I can't protect her from."

"She came to me and talked to me about it." Blake said, after Yang fell silent. "She can destroy any physical threat, and if Ruby's scared, Yang can comfort her."

Ruby was about to speak up, to tell Blake and Yang that she didn't need to be protected that much, but she heard a '_hush_' in her mind from Jet. She decided to remain silent following that, and kept listening.

"But you, Jet. Yang can't protect her from any pain you might cause. You can break Ruby's heart if you wanted to. There's no other way of saying it."

"So, because I'm that much of an outward threat, and obviously my fighting ability and power level isn't helping, I'm the root of your frustrations because my pain is unblockable, and for that, you wouldn't trust me because I've unintentionally inflicted it in the past." Jet reasoned slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Precisely." Weiss confirmed. "But with the way you are now with Ruby, attacking you will only cause more of that 'unblockable pain'. So we decided to make you a deal."

"A deal?" Jet queried, suspicion entering his voice.

"If you can promise us, all of us." Yang explained, gesturing at the entirety of team RWBY. "That you'll try your absolute best to never hurt Ruby, then I'll promise to lay off you."

"I'll do better." Jet replied. Everybody looked at him. "I'll make a vow. To all of you." He cleared his throat. "I, Jet, swear on my own life to never harm Ruby with intention. The sole exception will be when she asks, implies or otherwise allows me to harm her from either her own intent or from her own situation. Thus do I decree and place bounds upon myself, with both the twin gods and these four humans as my witnesses. Henceforth, I will enact my vow forthwith, until death parts me from it."

A silence met his words. Ruby was speechless. To think that Jet would place his own life on their bond. Ruby knew that Jet loved her dearly, and she loved him just as much, if not more, but to hear him swear this, with confidence, without question, told her how much he loved her, and how much it would break him if she left. Even so, it made things a little awkward.

"Those are very brave words, Jet." A male voice spoke from behind him. Jet wheeled around on the spot, while all eyes turned to Professor Ozpin, who had walked up behind Jet, unknown to them.

"Professor?" Weiss sounded surprised. "What are you doing here?" Ozpin smiled warmly, and Ruby was reminded of Jet, strangely enough.

"I had some errands to run, and two of them was with Jet and Ruby." Ozpin explained, as all of them stood. "After all, when two of our students take an unexpected journey off campus, naturally we want to know where they were going, how they were going to get there, and what they planned to do. Both of your teams tried to contact you both."

Ruby noticed Jet look down, and checked her scroll. Sure enough, there were around ten messages from her team with a similar subject; Information for Ozpin.

"My apologies sir." Jet spoke before Ruby could say anything. "A lot happened during our stay, so much so that it distracted us from happenings back here."

"Naturally." Ozpin replied, still maintaining his smile. "I assumed so. Care to share it with me? I know your teams would also like to hear about it."

Ruby moved over to Jet's side as he began to recount what they had done since their flight out of Beacon had begun.

* * *

Jet and Ruby recounted their landing in Theyl Nocturne, meeting Dennis and staying at his place, then going to the Meta Brawl arena, the accident, their fight in the arena. They left the visit to Phoenix's residence out, and rounded off with their flight back. They didn't mention any of their more intimate moments either, and for that, Jet was glad.

As he finished, having taken over from Ruby a couple of minutes back, he knew he was running out of time, fast. Whatever they might have thought of his absence, his mission came first. There was someone he needed to see.

"I must go. There's someone I need to see, quite urgently." Jet said.

"Who, if I may be so bold?" Ozpin asked.

"My mother, who's waiting to hear from me." Jet replied, shortly. "I'll see you later, Ruby." he said, when he saw her puppy eyes. Curse her for being so adorable. Either that, or gods bless his will of iron to resist.

He took flight, soaring up and over Sunset Hill. He pulled out his scroll from his pocket and dialled a number as he felt the wind catch his wings.

* * *

"So what's been happening?" Raven asked.

The dark haired woman had been waiting, fully armoured and helmeted on a flat rooftop. Jet himself landed on said rooftop, perching on the antenna, and wondering how on earth it was holding him. He hugged his knees and pressed his wings flat against his back, leaning forwards slightly to avoid falling off.

"I have it. The fourth semblance we've been looking for." Jet replied, looking down upon his mother, who stared right back at him. "But Flux has made her move."

"What happened?" Raven asked, removing her helmet as Jet leaped down from the antenna.

"Phoenix is dead. He was dying when I found him. Luckily, I knew this time, so I could get his semblance." Jet reported, as Raven pushed him onto the ledge and sat next to him.

"Excellent." Raven praised him, and Jet smiled in response. "And the Festung der Schatten? Is it still there?"

"Yes. Deus is there too." Jet confirmed, looking out at the view of Vale in the afternoon sun, and feeling Raven put an arm around him.

"Then everything is falling together?" Raven asked.

"Y-yes." Jet stuttered. Raven's eyes were instantly alight with concern, as Jet's new senses alerted him to. He knew why. He rarely stuttered.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked. "You can tell me."

"I know I wasn't meant to fall in love. I have, with the exact same girl you warned me against." Jet said, bowing his head.

"To be fair," Raven responded slowly, "I knew me telling you wasn't going to make much difference. But you have to remember."

"Remember what?" Jet asked.

"You're special. A one-of-a-kind person with two paths set out in front of him. Two existences." Raven explained, ruffling Jet's feathers. "You are a child of Asmodeus, which allows you to either make the ultimate combination of powers of the light, or take the ultimate power of darkness. Either path will take you to be on par with Flux. Just remember that no matter what path you take, I'll support you until the end and beyond."

"So you've accepted it then?" Jet inquired.

"Depends on what you mean." Raven replied smartly.

"You know exactly what I mean." Jet growled, turning to face his mother, who had closed her eyes and bowed her own head.

"I have. This time."


	21. Chapter 21 - Eve of more than Christmas

Jet soared over Vale, taking his time. The fact that they had an entire month off of Beacon's heavy-handed education system felt glorious. He twisted his body and flew right, crossing over a series of shops.

Looking down, he spotted the silver flowing hair of Izzet and the blond locks of Lilac. Folding his wings, he dived, aiming for a pile of snow next to them.

He extended his wings about ten metres from the ground, flapping his wings powerfully to slow his decent, causing a spray of snow underneath him as he landed in a crouch, facing his two teammates, who were now covered from head to toe in small, icy flakes. Izzet simply smiled and folded her arms, while Lilac irritably shook the intruding fragments of ice from her hair.

"Don't mind me, just came in to see how you were doing." Jet greeted as he walked beside the two girls.

"Emergency Christmas shopping, if you can believe it." Lilac replied.

"Really?" Jet asked, astounded. He'd thought his team was comprised of very organised people, or so two years of experience had shown him. He'd already done his own, and had even scheduled his trip to Theyl Nocturne to end in time for Christmas.

But those details were unimportant, as he returned himself to reality.

"What did you get me?" he asked teasingly.

'_If you only knew_.' Izzet replied, just as teasingly.

"Guess I'll find out." Jet asserted, before he flapped his wings and jumped, flipping himself backwards and extending his wings, expecting them to catch the wind, as he'd done while doing this move several times.

Except they didn't.

Stomach plummeting twice as fast, Jet fell back onto the ground, flat on his back at the feet of his teammates, who giggled before bursting out in laughter, Izzet's high pitched squeaks the closest to laughter the silent girl could manage. Jet felt blood rush to his cheeks as Lilac helped him up.

"Okay." he said after a pause, still trying to contain his embarrassment. "That didn't go as planned."

Without waiting for their reply, he ran across the road, extending his wings and taking off the normal way. He shook his head as he returned to the skies. Really, he should have nailed that take off. Something was up with the wind. Yes. Let's go with that.

* * *

Jet's travels next took him to a café with a roof area, where he observed Blake and Sun chatting from above. Neptune was there too, and Jet wondered if he should drop in for this one.

Ultimately deciding against it, he soared further southwards, away from Beacon and towards the main city. He had some Christmas shopping of his own to do.

* * *

Ruby sat on her familiar, floating bed. Its touch reminded her of her loved one. Normally, a Ruby in this position would be a happy Ruby, especially with it being Christmas Eve.

But this one wasn't.

Ruby continued to brood silently. Although she knew about Flux and how Jet considered her a threat, she hadn't seen any hint of her. But Jet continued to do things for no apparent reason, and still hadn't given her any reason as to where this was all heading. She knew he was trying to make himself stronger, but that didn't tell her anything. For all her trust, Jet's true mission still remained a mystery, even to her.

She sighed, lying on her stomach, leaning her chin on her two cupped hands, kicking her feet randomly in the air. She stayed like that until she felt the bed sway a little, and a warm hand was placed on her pyjama clad back.

"Ruby, I know something's up." Blake said from behind her. Ruby turned to face her, sitting up as she sat cross-legged on the other side of the bed. "It's Jet, isn't it?"

"Blake, what do you think Jet's trying to do?" Ruby asked.

"Trying to do? What d'you mean?" Blake asked back, a concerned expression on her face.

"C'mon, Blake." Ruby said, exasperatedly. "Going to that castle, disappearing randomly, going to that place for a semblance. He's up to something, and he won't tell me. You've had a goal like that before."

"If you ask me." Blake said, drawing Ruby closer, "I think he knows something about what's going to happen. No, listen!" she raised her voice at Ruby's attempt to interrupt her. "If he's doing things for his mission that are random, they must matter in some way. The pattern's the same in some of my books. A character does some things that are seemingly random, and it turns out that they know about the future. So, that's my theory."

"Listen, Blake, I know he's powerful and all," Ruby said, disbelievingly, "but I don't think he's got anything to do with the future."

Even as she said it, her mind was already racing with the possibilities. There was only really one piece of evidence to support that theory. Jet had come to her rescue from Cardin, without any prior warning, from his dorm, which had been quite far from where she was at the time.

But that was the only piece of evidence.

Ruby broke out of her reverie in time to see Blake walking out.

"Watch him." she said, before she closed the door behind her, leaving her to her thoughts, though not for very long, as she heard a tap on the window, which meant Jet wanted to come in. She jumped off her bed and opened the window, but she let out an 'eek' of surprise when Jet barrelled into her. His touch was freezing cold, and as Ruby moved around him and closed the window, he stretched and looked around.

They were alone.

"Mind if I use your shower?" Jet asked, and as he did, Ruby caught the whiff of body odour coming from him. She nodded, and he walked inside. She listened as he unzipped his winter cloak and turned on the shower.

"Jet?" she called out.

"Yeah?" came his response. Ruby threaded her hands together as she heard the sounds that indicated he was now in the shower.

"How are… um…" she petered out. How was she going to say this without someone as perceptive as Jet finding out what she really wanted?

"Hm?" Jet asked. "What's bothering you, sweetheart?"

"How many powers do you have? Like, secrets and everything?" Ruby asked, though she knew that she was dodging the real question she wanted to ask.

Jet was silent for a moment, before he responded.

"A lot. Almost all of my abilities and weapons aren't my own though." he replied, and Ruby heard the 'splurt' of the shampoo bottle. She realised with a small jolt that he was using hers.

"What're your limits, though?" Ruby asked. "If we fight together, I need to know what you're fully capable of."

"This is about the journey we're making on New Year's, isn't it?" Jet queried.

"Yes!" Ruby said, a little too quickly. "Yes, it is." She hoped that hadn't given the game away.

"Well, I suppose I could show you." Jet responded. "Give me a second."

"Already over." Ruby said, cheekily. She felt a smile cross her face and knew somehow that the same was happening to Jet.

"Funny." he retorted, his voice dripping with sarcasm. There were sounds of zips and the click of the lock on the door, then Jet emerged, his black hair still a little slick from the shower, but it was now flatter, neater. He walked to the window and turned to Ruby with a smile. The scent of roses was on the air, and Ruby recognised it.

"Why'd you use mine?" Ruby asked, referring to the soap and shampoo. Jet's grin widened as he stretched.

"Remember that conversation we had with Yang, about my second name?" Jet said. Ruby thought, then remembered. It had been at the pub where she'd met Junior for the first time.

Jet didn't have a second name, and so Ruby and Yang had been having an argument about their sibling's (well, in Yang's case) surname. Obviously, Yang had wanted him to be 'Jet Xiao Xiao Long', but Ruby had had other ideas. Jet had agreed with her, but in respect to Yang, incorporated 'Xiao' into his name, making it 'Jet Xiao Rose'. They had seen Ozpin about it and had it changed under his permission, as Jet turned out to have no legal guardian.

Ruby had liked it. Jet himself could unite different abilities and attributes with his copying ability, and could even combine them for greater effect. His symbol (on Midnight Rose, his copy of Crescent Rose) was a black rose, which also suited the name, along with the black rose petals that often accompanied his usage of semblances.

"Well, now I smell the part too." Jet explained, beckoning Ruby with his arms outstretched. While Ruby had been immersed in her thoughts, he'd jumped up onto their bed. She jumped up too and hugged him, laying her chin on his shoulder. His rose scent intermingled with her own, creating a relaxing concoction of scents that dulled her senses.

"Do you have to copy everything about me? Let me be alone as myself?" Ruby asked disparagingly. Could he let her be unique, just a little?

"Nope." Jet replied with a cheeky grin, popping his 'p' deliberately, and Ruby knew Jet knew it would annoy her. "You should be flattered that someone as powerful as me idolises you." Ruby jabbed him in the back between his wings with a finger, and felt his wings flap backwards reflexively.

"Figures, what with your ability to copy things." Ruby said, poking him again. This time, Jet spun around, knocking her down on the bed, and he pinned her arms and legs, though he was gentle.

"That hurts, you know." Jet said with a frown, before he reached under Ruby's armpits and begun tickling her. Ruby convulsed involuntarily and giggled as Jet pressed his attack, his fingers causing Ruby to laugh senselessly as she tried to escape, but the hold on her was too powerful. Jet increased his grip as she broke free with one of her legs and desperately tried to kick out at him.

"Jet, stahp! Ple- gah!" Ruby pleaded in between fits of laughter. Jet released her, and she gasped, breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. Jet merely watched as she put a hand on his shoulder, an almost questioning look in his eyes. "What is it?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, nothing." Jet said quickly, but the blush that rose to his face brought his lie to light.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, a frown appearing on her face, sensing that she might have a chance to pry for information.

"I'm just wondering whether what I got you for Christmas was right for you." he replied, glancing downwards, avoiding eye contact. The bed swayed a little.

"Pfbht. That's a fat load of shit and you know it, Jet." a voice came from behind her. She whirled around in surprise to see Lilac sitting behind her.

"How long have you been there?!" Jet asked, stern and serious. "And how did you get there?"

"Long enough, and look behind you." Lilac replied with a smug smile. Both turned to see Izzet behind Jet, a blush heavy on her face as she waved tentatively in greeting. "Go on, tell her the truth." Lilac continued, drawing their attention back to her. Ruby mentally punched the air in triumph. There _was_ more to the story.

"I don't wish to." Jet replied seamlessly. Ruby noticed his change of tone. His defences were coming up. "What I was really thinking about may not bide well."

"It'll 'bide' even less well if you don't spill it at some point. It's better for her to be with you on this. Even with the risk." Lilac replied, and Izzet nodded vehemently on their other side. Risks?

"What's happening?" she asked her lover softly, desperate to know now. Was this about Flux? Something in the future? Something that was scaring him?

Jet sighed, and took a deep breath, before he looked Ruby straight in the eye.

"I know how strong Flux is now." he confessed. "She came and met me when I was speaking to Ozpin one day."

As Jet begun to recount their encounter, Ruby listened, her heartbeat growing in speed and intensity.

* * *

"And the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital." Jet finished. Ruby's mind was buzzing. So Flux had come to Beacon right under their noses and neither Jet nor Ozpin had told anyone? Not only that, but their opponent was invulnerable? Ruby had a hard time believing that, but she knew Jet wouldn't lie about something this serious.

"How do we beat her?" Lilac pressed, and Ruby looked into Jet's eyes. She had a feeling that she knew that Jet knew. At once, Jet responded, closing his eyes.

"Flux is a child of Asmodeus who has embraced the darkness. Right now, no-one that is human can defeat her. Any of you, any of the students here, or the teachers." he said gravely, and Ruby's heart sank. But a grin appeared on his face as he continued. "But there's someone here who doesn't fit into that category."

"You." Ruby answered. "You're half Grimm, right?"

"Precisely." Jet replied, patting Ruby on the head. She smiled at him, deciding to bite back at the pride that was preparing a snappy retribution to the gesture. "I am also a child of Amsodeus."

"So you can beat him?" Lilac asked.

"Not in present form, and it's _her_. But like Flux, I can also embrace a greater power and become stronger." Jet explained. "I can gather the Four Semblances of Asmo and offer them to the light goddess, becoming one with my human side, and gaining great power over dust and light."

"That sounds promising." Lilac commented, but Ruby knew there was more.

"Or, I can follow Flux's footsteps and perform the Darkening Ritual of Deus before the dark god, embracing my Grimm side, and empower myself with darkness and strength." Jet concluded.

A silence followed his words.


	22. Chapter 22 - Darkness in the Light

"So you can beat him?" Lilac asked.

"Not in present form, and it's _her_. But like Flux, I can also embrace a greater power and become stronger." Jet explained. "I can gather the Four Semblances of Asmo and offer them to the light goddess, becoming one with my human side, and gaining great power over dust and light."

"That sounds promising." Lilac commented, but Ruby knew there was more.

"Or, I can follow Flux's footsteps and perform the Darkening Ritual of Deus before the dark god, embracing my Grimm side, and empower myself with darkness and strength." Jet concluded.

A silence followed his words.

"You're going to choose the light, right?" Ruby asked. He had to. If he went with his darkness, he'd be a Grimm, and that would mean-

"Maybe." Jet replied slowly. "It might be better to use Flux's own weapons against her."

Ruby felt anger enter her heart. She'd been a firm believer in the good side, in this case, light, but to hear that Jet might use evil to beat Flux, no matter how strong she was, was terrible. Sure, he used darkness to fight, but he served for the good of humanity! Was he really prepared to throw all that away?

"I know what you're thinking." Jet said, with a sad smile at Ruby's stare. "You think I'm insane for even thinking about turning to Deus. Well let me ask you this, _hero_." he continued, now returning Ruby's hard look. "Am I evil for being part Grimm?"

"No." Ruby replied at once. "But that and throwing away your human side to become Grimm are totally different things!"

"Are they?" Jet countered. "I, Jet Xiao Rose, use darkness as both my weapons and my shields. Midnight Rose, my Dharc Armour, all of it is made from pure darkness. My semblances come from my original semblance to copy abilities, which is also born from pure darkness. Even these," he extended his wings, "come from the darkness that you fight and hate. But I'm fighting something that threatens all of humanity, and I'm one of the only ones that can stop it. So, if I sacrifice one of the greatest gifts of this life, wouldn't that be considered noble, and not evil? Please tell me you're not that closed-minded."

This cut off what Ruby was about to say. Closed-minded? Was she closed-minded?

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I mean, you've got to shatter this belief you have that good is light and evil is dark, like in the storybooks and movies. From what I've learned about this whole world, it's about survival. Everything that's done around here is all a part of surviving." Jet elaborated.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'the ends justify the means', Ruby?" Lilac asked, sitting next to her, and Ruby felt the girl's slender and smooth leg touch her own. She shifted away slightly as Izzet moved next to Jet, their shoulders touching, and Jet put an arm around her. Remembering the fact that Izzet was one of those 'touchy-feely' girls, Ruby didn't complain.

"Jet is the perfect example of that." Lilac explained. "He uses darkness, pain, and some of the worst abilities ever to destroy his foes. But at the end, he's keeping his friends safe, and destroying threats to humanity, saving innocent lives. So if he becomes an enemy of humanity himself, but only hunts down Flux and destroys her, a definite threat to society, does that make him a bad person?"

'_He loves you, and he wouldn't do anything that might hurt you intentionally. He's always thought of you when he does anything that involves you, and tries to protect you.' _Izzet thought to her. '_You of all people would know how caring he is, even though he uses such dark power. Is he really going to change if he sides with Deus to destroy Flux?'_

It felt strangely like Ruby was being exorcised of all her doubts and worries. Each time a counter-argument or a fear of hers entered her mind, it was instantly dispelled by what the trio around her had said. Where fear once stood, now doubt in her hate of the darkness stood, even dispelling… no. It would never dispel that.

"Fine." Ruby said, though her voice came out soppier than what she'd intended. "But my mom died by that darkness. I'll try, but you need to give me time."

"Very well." Jet replied. "We'll leave you now."

"Actually, can Izzet stay with me?" Ruby asked. She had to know something.

Jet and Lilac exchanged glances with the silver haired girl, and Izzet certainly looked surprised, as did Lilac. Jet, on the other hand, had a knowing look in his eyes, but he changed his face to one of understanding.

"Of course." Jet and Lilac replied at the same time. Jet let go of Izzet and reached out, taking Lilac's hand in his own as she reached across Ruby. The pair vanished.

'_What is it, Ruby?_' Izzet asked, the telepath gazing into Ruby's eyes, the red and blue shimmering marbles of her own showing concern.

"Izzet, when Jet has to choose, between light and dark, to defeat Flux, which will he choose?" Ruby replied with her own question, though she knew how she was going to answer.

'_I'm not sure._' Or maybe not. '_On his own, we both know Jet would choose the dark side. His powers all come from darkness, and even his name is derived from a dark gem. Raven, his mother, is the name of a black bird. And we both know what his father was._'

"Right." Ruby said, hoping there was more to this than just names.

'_But with you, I don't know. He's used to the darker powers, and most if not all of us know about his Grimm half, but he might try and use light in order to destroy Flux. Because of you._' Izzet explained.

"Because of me?" Ruby asked, now confused.

_'__Yes! Because of you, who's shown him some kindness, he resolved to try. You don't know what he was like before you met him._' Izzet continued. Now Ruby was curious. She hoped the telepath could tell, though by her smile, she could. '_Believe it or not, he was really timid when I first met him._'

"Timid?" Ruby spoke in surprise. There again, she was a little iffy too on the first day.

'_He didn't speak. Back then, he hid his wings, and never spoke with such confidence. Nouvelle used to bully him too. It wasn't until our trials of initiation that we found out how strong he was. It was just the two of us and a death stalker. I panicked and it went for me, but he didn't show any fear. Know what he did?_' At Ruby's shake of her head, Izzet continued.

'_He took a grenade-launcher hammer called Diminuendo and cut the stinger off before blasting it through its skull, all in one move! I wasn't nice to him either at the time, and Nouvelle and Lilac were coming out of the bushes in time to witness it too.'_

"Sounds like Nora's weapon." Ruby muttered to herself.

'_After that, he was made our leader. Things only got better after that, but he showed a major increase in confidence once he met you, Ruby. To him, you're the spark that blazes in his heart. You're more than just a loved one, you see. If he were to lose you…_'

Ruby didn't even need Izzet to finish her sentence. She finally understood. Everything Jet did, it was with the goal of protecting her. That must mean that his other goal, his mission of defeating Flux was connected to her. But why? Everything was much clearer now except that one point.

'_And now, I must ask you,' _Izzet spoke with a sad smile_, 'have you done all of your Christmas shopping?_'

"Yes. Why?" Ruby asked. She was normally so excited about Christmas that she bought her gifts beyond a fortnight in advance. Izzet's smile widened.

'_Then, I'll see you in the morning_.' Izzet whispered, and a blackness appeared around her hand. At the same time, she felt a small, sharp sting on the back of her neck, and blacked out.

* * *

Ruby's body fell into Jet's hands. She felt pleasantly heavy as he and Izzet tucked her into her bed. He gazed once more upon her sleeping face as Izzet embraced him from behind, and felt her chin upon his shoulder. He twisted his neck and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

'_Time to get the others_.' Jet thought to her.

'_Yes_.' Izzet responded.

The two of them vanished, leaving Ruby's sleeping form alone.


	23. Chapter 23 - A Warm Christmas

Jet wiped the sweat off his brow. Izzet took a deep breath. Their lips met for the first time.

The two were balanced on the tip of the antenna of Beacon's information building. Izzet's legs were wrapped around Jet's waist, and he held her close with a single arm. Jet's wings were outstretched, which gave him the look of an angel of death in the pale moonlight. He smiled at his secret lover, who wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"It's funny." Jet remarked as he gazed down at the clouds below. "I thought you were afraid of heights, Izzet."

'_I am._' the telepath replied, kissing Jet back lightly. '_But with you, I'm not afraid_.'

"I feel as if you are my tether, just as Ruby is my anchor." Jet said. "But up here, at the pinnacle, I have a request to make of you." At Izzet's questioning look, he continued. "I have the four semblances of Asmo. And now, I can entrust someone with my protection while I wield the holy powers of light. All I need you to do is love me as you do now, and to stay safe. Can you do that for me?"

'_Jet, I will. You know that I will_.'

"Then." Jet's free hand started to glow an incandescent white. Izzet reached with one of her own and clasped it.

A white flash engulfed the peak of the tower they stood upon.

* * *

Ruby felt herself awaken groggily. Her eyes silts, she looked up at the roof of their room, which reflected the daylight from the window, the curtains of which were open. As her eyes slowly opened, only one question was on her mind.

What happened?

Then, it clicked. She'd felt this before.

Jet's sleep poison.

Ruby felt the small scab on her neck where she'd been jabbed by him.

"That sneaky little-" Ruby started to say, but then her eyes snapped open once she realised what had happened to her room.

The whole room was decorated with Christmas streamers and banners, from floor to roof. Slogans such as 'Happy Christmas!' and 'Merry Christmas!' were everywhere, and as Ruby looked down from her bed, she saw a small Christmas tree, where she recognised her gifts intermingled with other wrapped presents.

Now she knew. Jet must have put her to sleep so that he and Izzet could set this up. And judging by the still sleeping forms of her teammates, they must have found them and done the same. Ruby immediately reached for the whistle under her pillow, only to not feel anything. She rolled over in bed and found a sheet of paper in a scrawl that she recognised as Jet's handwriting.

'Nope. You're not waking them up like that. I took your extra too. Let them wake up on their own.' it read. Ruby groaned a little in frustration. She didn't have to resort to yelling often, but before she did, she saw a little arrow on the message, and she turned the sheet of paper around. On the back was a continuation of the message. 'Don't think about yelling either. I'll be spending today with my team, but if you come outside the canteen at 9pm tonight, we can have our special Christmas together. Don't be late!'

"Yes, Dad." Ruby muttered to herself as she hopped off her bed and onto the carpeted floor. She desperately wanted to tear into her presents, but she restrained herself with difficulty, wandering into the shower, and turning it on before she undressed.

After about five minutes, Ruby returned, fully dressed, and sat next to the Christmas tree, waiting for her teammates to wake up. Unsurprisingly, it was Weiss who first woke up.

"Wha-what happened?" she asked, uncharacteristically soft. "I was talking to Neptune when-" she let out a long yawn.

"You too huh?" Ruby replied. "Looks like Jet got us all."

"Jet? I don't- wha?" Weiss said, before her sleepy eyes fell on the decorations. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Jet did this too." Ruby explained as the shocked heiress took in the whole scene.

"It's surprisingly simplistic." Weiss commented, but when she looked at Ruby again, she spotted the younger girl's glare. "But nice." she quickly added with a smile.

"Happy Christmas, Weiss." Ruby said, and Weiss responded in kind.

"Happy Christmas, Ruby." both Weiss and Blake, who Ruby hadn't seen wake up, replied.

"Oh! Blake!" Ruby said, startled, as the girl in question got out of her bed and looked upon Yang, who was still asleep. She whispered in the blonde's ear, Ruby barely making out the words.

"Time to… sleepy…" Blake whispered, and Ruby heard a groan from Yang.

"Five more minutes, kitty cat." Yang moaned, rolling over in her sleep.

"If you don't… I'm… to-"

BABABABABANG!

An ear-splitting series of explosions sounded from near their window, making Weiss and Blake jump, Ruby to scream and wrap her arms around Weiss' arm, and Yang to swear loudly before falling out of her bunk. Ruby immediately let go of Weiss, opened the window and looked out at the courtyard to find Jet, flat on his back, covered in soot, and Nouvelle and Lilac running towards him, looking concerned.

"Well, that's one way to rudely wake up everyone." Jet commented. "Why'd you fire that at me?!" he asked his two teammates angrily. "You both knew how powerful those are!"

"Sorry Jet!" came Nouvelle's panicked voice. "I dropped ze thing! Eet needs some getting used to, no?"

Ruby felt herself being shoved out of the way by Weiss, who opened the window fully and leaned out of it.

"HEY!" she yelled. "Keep it down!"

"Merry Christmas to you too, and if it's any consolation," Jet yelled back, getting to his feet and dusting himself off, "those were supposed to go off ten times the distance in the air, but I think you can see what happened already!"

Ruby noticed the familiar sounds of Glynda Goodwitch's heels and indicated this to Weiss, who nodded and closed the window. Jet would get his comeuppances for that, especially as they now had to deal with-

"Who made that noise?" a grumpy Yang growled.

"Jet and his team. Goodwitch's probably yelling at them now." Ruby replied, not turning around.

"Good. Bastard disturbed my sleep." Yang's voice came from behind her, and Ruby waited for the- "Holy crap. What the heck happened?"

"Jet did this." Ruby said happily, turning around to see Yang and Blake looking around the room, and Weiss now sat on her bed.

* * *

"Just get me up." Jet growled. He knew what would invariably come next, and had prepared. The heels signalled this as Lilac hauled him to his feet.

"And just why would you three cause such an upheaval, especially on this current day?" Goodwitch asked. Jet already had his answer pre-prepared.

"Apologies." Jet said, mentally sending '_let me handle this'_ to Lilac and Nouvelle, who both nodded. "One of my presents for Nouvelle was being tested, though it was supposed to be fired up into the air. I underestimated the kick however, as Nouvelle dropped Burning Meteor, causing the projectiles to instead hit-"

"Yourself." Goodwitch finished. "Nouvelle, do you have anything to add?"

'_Just apologise, and say that it was a really big kick_.' Jet sent to her.

"Sorry, madame. Eet was more than I expected." Nouvelle answered. "Eet felt like a shotgun compared to a pistol. Zey are powerful though."

"Be that as it may, why did you feel the need to do this now, here and not later, on the firing range?" Goodwitch queried. 'Lilac?' Jet asked.

"My fault, miss." Lilac said, her eyes drooping convincingly to Jet. "I was just excited to see it, what with it being Christmas and everything." At this, Jet chuckled internally. He knew who came next. The girl herself materialised beside him, panting a little.

'_Sorry I'm late_.' Izzet sent to everyone, including Goodwitch. '_Um, what happened with the explosions?'_ She was wearing a dark leather jacket that Jet had gotten for her with a hood, and combined with her eyes and dark jeans, made her look a little intimidating.

"Your teammates had the bright idea of firing a new weapon up into the air, waking most of the other students, and on this day no less." Goodwitch explained.

'_What were you thinking?_' Izzet sent at all of them, and all three looked down, acting as if they were being scolded. '_I apologise on behalf of my team, miss, but we need to go to the training arena pretty quickly. We booked a spot there, you see.'_

"I suppose I'll forgive you, on account of this merry day." Goodwitch replied, rolling her eyes.

"Thank you, miss. I promise, we'll think a little more next time." Jet finished, before he beckoned his three teammates to come near him. He linked their hands and stopped time, not hearing Goodwitch's reply.

"Done to perfection. Nice one, ladies." Jet grinned as they walked across a grey courtyard that bordered on the arena at Beacon. "Consider that my first Christmas present, orchestrating a way of everyone waking up and seeing the work we've done, on top of getting away with it."

"Figures that Veiss would be ze one to yell out ze window." Nouvelle commented loftily.

"I hope Yang isn't too moody." Lilac muttered as they walked towards the arena.

* * *

Jet walked to the left side of the training arena. He knew his three teammates were on the other side of the arena. This time, he would take on all three of them at once.

He tested his new powers as he walked, summoning a ball of white light in his palm, before flicking it upwards and watching it pop in a shower of white sparks. '_Good, so it works._' he thought to himself.

'_I can hear you, you know?_' Izzet's voice came from the back of his mind.

'_You scared to face me? Consider what you and I unlocked_.' Jet sent, this time knowing she'd hear him.

'_A little._' she admitted. '_But we want you to have as much power as you can get. So, if you can defeat all of us easily, I'd say we've accomplished that goal_.'

'_So be it_.' Jet replied. He turned to face his team, seeing the aura indicators on either side flash on before their aura was displayed.

"On your ready!" Jet yelled. He felt his new powers well up inside him, almost making him feel saddened at the prospect of battle, but he steeled himself against these feelings, telling himself it was necessary to do so and practise for the real battle. The one that truly mattered.

His team immediately started moving, and he charged his red pulse, unleashing it a moment later as Izzet teleported next to him and stopped time himself to move away, taking the time to check the aura and saw Izzet had dropped to 65% with that one hit.

He started time again and fired several fast-moving white bolts at Lilac, but she was shielded by fire from Nouvelle's semblance, who was running at him, Burning Meteor alight and flaming. Jet waited until she was close, before jumping up and extending his wings, causing Nouvelle to crash into Izzet, who had teleported behind him, and drop both their auras.

Jet summoned a whirlwind of snow that shone with light as it swept the two dazed opponents away from him. Still unarmed, he sent the whirlwind at Lilac, who was forced to run to the side to avoid it. Narrowly dodging another attack from Izzet in the air, he closed his wings and plummeted to the icy ground, punching it on impact and causing the ground to shake briefly, knocking his three opponents over.

He then looked at the aura indicators. His own aura was at 80%, the damage coming from his own attacks. He didn't have time to check his opponents', because Izzet chose that moment to strike again, this time appearing behind and delaying her attack. Having seen this tactic before, Jet evaded it, but was smashed in the back by Nouvelle and Lilac together.

Jet went flying, landing face-first on the ground, and stopped time immediately to recover. He moved behind his opponents, before thinking.

He reached a decision. He reached upwards, and a long sliver of light appeared in his hands. It solidified into a shimmering katana-like sword, except it had two blades that curved inwards, meeting at the tip of the sword, leaving a hole in the center of the blade. He read the name of the sword on the blue leather hilt.

Crescendo.

He didn't even realise that the time-stop had ended. Jet surrounded himself in light, holding the sword high, outstretching his wings as he almost tasted the power of this sword in the air.

"Dispelling the darkness in favour of a shining hope!" he yelled. "Rise now, the new blade that guides my justice! Crescendo!"

The light vanished, and Jet saw the metal blade of the sword was glowing with a faint blue light. It looked every part of what he'd hoped for; a new weapon never seen before which resonated with his new powers. He glanced at the aura indicators while he stared his team down, blade in hand, and noticed something truly unexpected.

The aura indicator was rising. Slowly, but it was _rising_.

Crescendo was healing him!

As he realised, Jet noticed he was slowly regaining energy and strength that would have been drained by the darkness he normally used.

Without hesitation, he surrounded himself with a shimmering light and charged with enhanced speed, striking Izzet with an attack that, had he been using darkness, would have taken her out of the fight instantly.

It didn't, and she countered, kicking Jet on the back of the head as he passed, taking off the aura he had regenerated. Jet skidded to a halt, and checked that that had actually happened.

"Guess I heal instead of damaging myself." Jet muttered to himself as he watched his team approach. "But my attacks aren't as strong."

He shook his head, and charged them.

* * *

The fight lasted longer than his regular fights using his dark abilities. Jet noted feeling far better coming out of it rather than feeling fatigued like he normally did (though he normally also had enough strength left to move out of sight before resting.

He was walking beside their team back to the dorm rooms. He'd hoped all the presents had been opened by that point, and lazily tapped into his teammates' conversation, not realising what the subject had been.

"…but how is it possible that you're able to use light? You've never done it before." Lilac said.

Realizing that this was about him, Jet quickly snapped himself back to attention.

"Well, you three know about the fact that I'm a child of Asmodeus, right?" Jet asked, addressing all three. "If I'm a child of light as well as darkness, it makes sense that I'm able to use both powers."

"I wonder what happens eef you use both ze light and ze darkness?" Nouvelle commented.

"Not sure, actually." Jet replied, walking ahead of them, then turning around and walking backwards so he could face his team. In the back of his mind, he used his sensory semblance to know the path behind him. It was showing off, sure, but whatever.

'_Aren't they anathema to one another?_' Izzet asked. _'Surely it would be bad if they connected. For you, at least.'_

"I don't know, but one thing's for sure." Jet replied, dodging around a pole he would have collided with had it not been for his sixth sense. "Ruby's going to be happy, what with her belief in the light."

He hoped that was the case, though, as he turned back to face the right way. He, Lilac and Izzet had made a convincing argument in the other direction.

* * *

"What's this?" Jet asked, taking a small present from Izzet that she'd slipped cheekily into his hand as she passed him. They were sat in their dorm room, having already opened the majority of their presents. As he said it, Lilac and Nouvelle drew closer as he unwrapped one of the last presents his teammates had gotten him.

It was revealed to be a set of cards for a game the girls seemed to enjoy, known as Remnant Elements. Jet, having watched the girls play, but never having played himself, understood the rules. He recited them to himself as he looked through the 30-card deck. It seemed that his two elements were Light and Dark, out of four possible others; Fire, Water, Wind and Time.

Figures.

Jet knew that they'd wanted him to play, and them dragging the box out from the wardrobe confirmed it. He shuffled his deck, deciding not to reveal the fact that he knew the rules perfectly fine.

Izzet set the box between them and pulled out her own deck. In silence, they set their decks on the positions displayed on the box. It was ornate; a gift from Izzet's grandmother, who'd sadly passed away. Magic symbols adorned every surface of the bronze playbox.

He watched Izzet draw four cards, and copied her. Two black spells, one white, and one black and white spell. She pushed a button and the whole thing lit up.

"Do you know ze rules, Jet?" Nouvelle asked.

"I have a fair idea." Jet grinned, and Izzet mirrored him.

'_Prepare to lose, for once._' she thought.

"You wish." Jet replied, getting an 'ooh' from Lilac. He watched as two symbols were randomly generated and holographically projected in front of them. Jet felt the activate button on his left. Pushing it would enable him to play a card, but he needed the symbols, which were randomly generated.

Two flashed up.

Red and Black.

Izzet instantly hit her button before Jet could react. She held up a red card, and holographic fireballs flew from it, but they burned him like real fire, causing him to recoil. His green health bar, which was indicated on his side of the box, decreased by 5% and turned orange, flickering a little.

Recognising the Burn status, Jet watched the symbols.

Black and Blue.

Jet hit his own button, beating Izzet to the punch, and feeling his health decrease by 2%. He flashed a black card that had a bloody claw on it. Shadows appeared behind Izzet and she hissed a little in pain. Her health decreased by 10%, and his was restored by 5%, putting it to 98%.

No one was speaking, and Jet knew why, as he drew a white card. These games could be tense affairs.

* * *

Halfway through the game, Izzet was beating him pretty badly. She was at 80% health, and Jet was at 20%. He was also at Burn status as well, which was impacting his dwindling life further. Izzet drew another card from her deck as he felt said burn status drain his health by 2%. She was smiling, but Jet wasn't phased.

He drew another card (by an effect of one of her cards played three turns ago; Jet couldn't even remember which) and froze. A gold card that had a white and black background and a shining image was there. A balance breaker, which Lilac had said was one of the most powerful cards in the game.

He maintained his poker face as the symbols appeared.

Cyan and Green. Neither player pushed their button. Jet felt his life decrease.

Again. Cyan and Blue. Izzet didn't react. Another hit from the Burn.

Again. Red and Blue!

Izzet held up a golden card of her own, Burning Defeat, and Jet felt every part of his skin burn as the Balance Breaker activated, surrounding him with blue fire. He'd seen that card before. If Izzet was more than 30% above her opponent, and said opponent was at 20% or less with a Burn, she could end the game with that card!

"Good game." Lilac said sadly.

'_Gotcha._' Izzet taunted, but Jet grinned.

"Not over yet." he grunted under the pain, and flashed a grey card. The fire stopped, and he put all cards from his hand except his Balance Breaker on the bottom of the deck. His health stopped at 1%. "By discarding 3 cards from my hand," he explained to their shock, "if you would finish me using a Balance Breaker, I can instead be left with 1% health, and my status is cured." As he said it, his heath bar turned a reassuring green, thought it was a mere line away from empty.

'_Fine. All I need to do is hit you once_.' Izzet thought as he drew another card. He watched the symbols, saying nothing and waiting. They stopped.

Black and White.

"Let me introduce you to my own Balance Breaker!" Jet said, having hit the button barely before Izzet. He held up his own Gold card, and Izzet was enveloped in a purple mist. "If I'm 50% below my opponent, I can drain half your health." Izzet's went down by 40%, then his rose by 40%. "Then, if I had 5% or less health when I activated this card, you take the other half of your health as damage!"

"What?!" Both Nouvelle and Lilac shouted in surprise, and Izzet's face showed the same shock as her health decreased to 0%.

"Goodnight." Jet grinned, as the game shut down. "I win, Izzet."

With that, after checking the clock, he vanished from the spot, dropping a note for them.


	24. Chapter 24 - Influx

Ruby sat atop Sunset Hill as she waited for Jet. She curled her new crimson cloak around her as she looked at the chrome rounds that now sat in her rifle. She'd seen nothing of LIJN, and she felt slightly worried as they hadn't been in their dorm room, nor at the cafeteria. Speaking of which, she'd left a note for Jet that she'd be here, and had even texted him with her scroll.

There again, maybe she was just worrying about nothing. There were two members of their team that could move in frozen time, practically teleporting themselves and their teammates around.

One of them appeared behind her as soon as the clock on her watch hit 9:00. She could feel his presence. Arms, smooth and strong, wrapped around her front, and she leant back into the kneeling Jet's embrace.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." Jet whispered into her ear.

"Merry Christmas." Ruby replied. "Where did you get that name for me?"

"Well," Jet said very coyly, swirling around so he faced her, a small smile present on his face, "you're sweet, and you have a heart purer than most. That's why." Wow. How unusually… sweet.

"Can your sweetheart have a favour?" Ruby asked, raising her hand and holding her middle finger against her palm. At her signal, Yang walked around from the sole tree that was present on Sunset Hill. "Can we fight?"

"Fight?" Jet asked, tilting his head towards Yang in greeting and standing up as Ruby did.

"She wants to test out some of our presents for her." Yang said with a smile. "We think we might be able to beat you, and you don't have anyone with you this time."

"You sure?" Jet asked, and Ruby noticed Izzet walk out from behind him. "Us two against you two."

"Damn." Yang said from behind Ruby as Jet and Izzet vanished, reappearing in the clearing below Sunset Hill. "How does he call his teammates like that?"

"No idea." Ruby replied, before she leapt from the hill, landing in front of her two opponents, hearing Yang land beside her with a 'nailed it'.

"And now, you fall." Jet said, before he surrounded himself in a white light. Ruby, caught by surprise, was blinded by the light, as was Yang. Only when the light had faded did she see Jet in an entirely new form. Her mouth dropped open.

Jet stood before her in a white and pale-yellow curved suit of armour, complete with a snow white cape that twirled in the winds behind him. In his left hand was a sword Ruby hadn't seen before, but she read the name Crescendo on the azure blue blades. On his right was a white mechanical gauntlet that shimmered with blue light as well.

"Well, that's new." Yang deadpanned beside Ruby, who stood in shocked silence. HE USES LIGHT?!

Izzet smiled proudly, and she too transformed with a blinding flash of light. When Ruby's eyes had recovered for the second time, she saw pure white wings had sprouted from her back, and also emitted blue light. She stepped behind Jet as he pointed his new blade at them, her own blue and red blades drawn.

"Surprised?" he asked. "It's too early to be surprised."

He conjured a white glyph underneath Izzet, and she was surrounded by a shimmering bubble of blue light.

A shield.

She didn't have much time to think though, as Jet flew at them, cape swirling, and Izzet folded her swords into twin Uzis before firing a hailstorm of bullets at Yang, who was forced to run to the side to evade as she closed with Izzet. Ruby fired behind her to fly at Jet, the chrome round giving a bigger kick, and as Jet drew rapidly closer, he moved his blade across his chest to block Crescent Rose.

Ruby herself flew past him and whirled around, but Jet was faster and turned before firing a bolt of light from his gauntlet, Ruby narrowly avoiding the blast. He was on her within the next second, using her semblance and forcing her to do the same, so much so that they became a whirlwind of blades and flashes of light and rose petals both black and red whirling around them.

Suddenly, Jet disengaged and retreated backwards, giving Ruby a chance to check her bearings. There were no aura indicators to check, so Ruby could only guess. Jet's aura looked low as it was crackling round him, and Yang's yells of anger along with repeated explosions meant she was probably doing fine against Izzet.

"This FUCKING SHIELD DOESN'T BREAK!" Yang yelled over at Ruby, and Jet grinned. Apparently she wasn't doing well.

"You won't get to Izzet." he growled, and his aura looked like it was refilling. "First of all, my light ability is shielding Izzet. You can't get to her without beating me. Also, I'm actually healing myself passively."

"Focus on Jet, Yang!" Ruby called, and Yang nodded, her eyes focussing on Jet and charging, only to have him fly upwards with his wings and unleash a series of lightning bolts from the sky, coupled with another withering burst of bullets from Izzet. Ruby fired backwards once again in order to jump and reach Jet, but he parried and Ruby was sent plummeting to the ground.

"Take THIS!" Jet roared, firing two pure white beams of light from above, one aimed at each of the sisters. Ruby dived out of the way, but heard Yang yell out in pain and looked over to see she'd been scorched by the powerful attack. Before Ruby could even move to see if she was alright, Jet landed between them and fired another laser at her, forcing her to use her semblance to dodge as he swept in a 360 degree spin before firing at Yang again.

Ruby took the opportunity to strike at his back while he was distracted, and she connected with a swift strike, but her blade hit a fully formed aura as opposed to the damaged one she'd seen on Jet before. She realised with a jolt, as Jet warped away to avoid any other strikes, that his aura was regenerating instead of depleting!

The scenery around her was starting to turn grey, and so was she. Ruby looked up to see Izzet, both hand clasped and outstretched towards her.

She was trapping her in a time-lock!

Ruby charged, scythe outstretched towards Izzet, desperate to attack her before she completed her lock.

* * *

A moment later, her target vanished and she was instantly disarmed and pulled into a hug by Jet. Her aura was gone.

Adrenaline pumping through her, Ruby struggled for all she was worth against his iron grip, but Jet held firm.

"It's over, Ruby." he said, over her grunts and efforts to get away, and upon hearing him, Ruby stopped struggling. "We beat you."

Ruby sighed in defeat, and turned to Yang, who leant against the same tree she'd hidden behind, and was being tended to by Izzet. She caught Yang's eye, and the blonde replied with a sad smile, as if to say 'I'm sorry.'

"What happened?" Ruby asked, taking Jet by the hand and sitting next to her sister. Yang hissed in pain a little as Izzet pressed her hand to a burn going across her legs.

"You were frozen in time by Izzet." Yang explained. "Once I found out, I went after Izzet, but I couldn't break that shield."

"I went after her." Jet picked up. "We fought, and both of our auras went low, but I was able to take her down. It was close." he tilted his head to Yang in respect. "After that, I simply hit you while you were frozen until your aura was done."

"I've got a question." Yang said, and Jet turned to meet her gaze. "How were you that tough during our fight? Normally you're a lot more fragile than that."

Jet grinned at that.

"I'm sure you've both noticed by now, but I can also use light in battle as well." he replied. "Where I drain my own aura by using darkness, I actually heal myself when using light. So in answer to your question," he fixed his eyes on Yang, "I'm just as 'fragile' as before, but I was healing passively, so it seems like I had more aura that time."

As Izzet finished healing Yang, she turned to Ruby, a silent question in her worried eyes.

"I'm fine, Izzet." Ruby reassured the telepath, and she smiled, before she caught Jet's eye. He nodded, and Izzet took Yang by the arm before they both vanished.

* * *

"They're returning to Beacon." Jet explained as he leaned back against the cool tree. Ruby sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close as they gazed up at the starless sky. "If someone had told me when I first arrived that I would have loads of friends and the best girlfriend I could have ever dreamed of, I would have never believed them."

"Same here." Ruby replied, content to snuggle into his side, wrapping her new cloak around herself and Jet as a cover against the elements, and Jet began to radiate his heat. He was literally like a human hot water bottle when he did this, and Ruby felt herself melt into him.

"Do you know?" Jet asked. "The first night I stayed here, I came out here after being bullied into sleeping outside."

"You were bullied like that?" Ruby asked, shocked.

"I hadn't discovered my full powers, and back then, people were stronger than me. I only had a couple of semblances as well. But that's beyond the point." He pointed up at the sky. "It was a clear sky back then, but after that night, I could never see those stars again. At least, until now."

"Until now?" Ruby queried suspiciously, and turned to see Jet's smile.

"I'd like you to see them as well." he whispered, and held up a hand in front of him, which she didn't realise was glowing until then. The sky seemed to darken even more than normal, almost as if a great black fog was being dispersed.

Then, Ruby saw them.

Lights in the sky, shining as pinpricks of hope in the gloom of the night. Immense clusters dominated sections of the sky, and she looked all around them as tiny gems shone from all directions, the proud glamour evident in their shine.

"Woooow." Ruby whispered slowly in the silence. They were beautiful.

"I like to think that they came out for me when I was feeling the most pain on that day." Jet explained quietly. "When many rejected me and used me as a punching bag."

"Who did it?" Ruby asked, catching Jet's eye and wondering if she should find said people. Teach them a lesson. As though reading her mind, Jet smiled at her.

"Cardin and his cronies, Nouvelle, couple of other teams I can't remember…" Jet replied. "But don't worry. I'm over them, in more ways than one."

"Good to know." Ruby replied, leaning in for a kiss, but Jet moved back a little. Ruby pouted at him, disappointed.

"I just need to say one thing." Jet said with a grin. "I love you."

With that, he grabbed Ruby and tried to get on top of her, but ended up overbalancing, and with a 'oh no' from Jet, the two of them tumbled down the hill, intertwined, rolling until they stopped at the bottom of the hill, with Ruby on top. Covered in snow, Ruby met his gaze.

"I love you too." Ruby whispered, and met his lips with her own in a passionate kiss.


	25. Chapter 25 - Sliver of Fate

The days towards his journey with Ruby came and went quickly, and Jet strode through them as though they were mere stepping stones, such was the speed of their passing.

It was two days before New Year's eve, a day before he and Ruby would depart to Forever Fall, the mountaintop where Ruby's mother, Summer Rose, died and was laid to rest. Jet sat in the library of Beacon in one of the private rooms, with a sheet of paper before him.

Gone was the smile he'd so often worn in Ruby's presence. Jet's face was one of pure concentration as he wrote on the sheet. It was a list.

'Ruby's Speed, Weiss' Glyphs, Blake's Shadow Clones, Yang's Strength, Lilac's Electricity, Izzet's Time-Warp, Dennis' Healing, Phoenix's Senses, ?'s Sleep Poison…'

This list comprised all the powers and abilities, all the semblances and weapons, and the Dharc armour modules that he had. With the last noted down, he leant back in his chair and looked at the sheet. It served as a reminder for him, of which powers he had copied via darkness. Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind to wander.

* * *

Flames. Screams. Death.

Jet stood at the foot of a mountain overpass. He was watching the city of Vale burn. And he was laughing.

Spreading his wings, one of a raven and the other of a bat, he soared downwards into the fray. Grimm were swarming the normally peaceful streets. Innocents were dying left and right, and as Jet watched, stalking the ruins, an Ursa Major burst from a building into a group of terrified children huddled together. With a rush of savage pleasure, he watched the unfortunates being torn limb from limb.

All but one. Jet noticed the little blonde haired girl running towards him, her fear of strangers clearly being put aside by the big black bear behind her. Jet knelt down and lifted the whimpering girl, who seemed to be about three or four, and held her tightly, burying her head into his shoulder as she cried, the Ursa behind her crunching into flesh and bone before looking up at Jet, its maw bloody.

"I've got this one. Go forth and feed." Jet commanded in a darker and deeper version of his voice. The Ursa immediately padded off in search of more victims, and he looked down at the girl he held, who was now looking up into his eyes.

"Did you save me, mister?" she asked, very tentatively. "Is the big scary bear gone?"

"Yes." Jet replied, looking out, surveying a pack of Beowolves that were chasing another group of panicked survivors. A hunter seemed to be with them, but the Beowolves numbered too many. He was dragged down and devoured by the immense pack. Jet then felt a small hand on his cheek, and looked down to see the girl staring at him.

"Why do you have green and black eyes? Where's mommy?" the girl asked, her worried face shimmering in the flickering flames of the burning city.

"Don't worry, I'll send you to mommy." Jet replied, and he felt his mouth twitch upwards in a grin. He held the girl in front of him and gave a keening cry from the back of his throat. Two of the beowolves feeding on the now dead group raised their heads at his call, and loped over. Jet knelt down and stood the girl in front of him, facing him. His charge was unaware of the Grimm approaching her.

"Promise you'll take me to mommy?" the girl asked, her bottom lip trembling.

"I promise. You'll see her very soon." Jet replied softly, as the Beowolves neared him. With one swift movement, he pushed the girl towards the ravenous Grimm, and took flight, seeing them pounce on her, hearing her scream of pain and fear before, after a few seconds, she was silenced with a final crunch of bone.

He soared upwards, evading falling debris and flickering flames until he overlooked the entire city.

"You were all fated to fall." Jet barked. "Isn't that right, Jet?"

From all around him, he heard his own voice, in the distortion of telepathy.

'_Yes. Yes, slay them all. Make them pay dearly for their sin_.'

* * *

Jet immediately snapped out of his dream. That vision. That vision that Flux had shown him of the future by her own hand. That, and a thousand other atrocities would come to pass if she achieved her goal, and why Jet hated her so much.

Because it wouldn't be her committing them.

Jet looked down at his own hand. Flux, his alternate persona, was a taint. They were separated as of now, but their minds fought for dominance within his own body when they were together. He knew Flux's body, no matter how strong, was only temporary. Once she was strong enough, she would discard her form and return to him.

Her control would be absolute, almost impossible to escape. His own mind would eventually fall to her, and he would start to enjoy inflicting pain and destruction upon the world, a beast revelling in its own strength and dominance.

This was a race against time now. And yet, Ruby and the others shouldn't know.

'_Why shouldn't they?_' A little voice spoke in his mind. Jet turned in his seat to see Izzet behind him, who kissed the back of his neck before sitting in the chair next to him.

'_Because they'll be closer to figuring out everything._' Jet replied. '_You know what will happen if that occurs._'

'_I do, but more than anything, you don't want Ruby to be hurt._' Izzet thought, gazing intently into his eyes. '_But won't all this deceit bring more pain when it comes to light? Even I've had to lie for the sake of our mission_.'

'_Izzet, we have to maintain that deceit in order to hide the fact that I'm a walking nuclear time bomb!_' Jet sent. '_Once all this is over, then we can confess our sins_.'

'_You and I both know that won't happen_.' Izzet replied, and Jet looked down. '_And for the sake of all that is good in this world, I would gladly lay down my life for you. Lilac and Nouvelle too, if it comes to that. But I think Ruby should know.'_

_'__She mustn't.'_ Jet responded at once. '_She might try to stop me.'_

_'__Then I'll tell her.'_ Izzet thought forcefully, standing up. Jet rose too.

'_You'd be prepared to risk everything based on this revelation?'_ Jet asked. '_Because I will not._' He raised a hand to the door and placed a dark glyph, preventing his teammate from escaping.

'_Yes. Because it will ultimately do more good than harm!' _Izzet yelled, before drawing her twin blades. Jet looked apprehensively at his teammate. So she was prepared to fight for this.

"You'd draw swords on me?" Jet asked aloud. He summoned his copies of Penny's swords, the Shadow Sirens, and the eight blades floated around him, all pointed at Izzet. "We both know the end result of that."

'_Ruby deserves to know. It is for her that I fight you now._' Izzet replied, staring him down intently. Jet held her gaze for a moment before relenting. He had an idea.

"Before you engage in a futile effort to defeat me, why not make a compromise?" Jet asked. Izzet's swords dropped a little, though they were still pointed at him. She nodded, as if to say 'please continue'. "You know about my journey with Ruby taking place on the day before New Year's Eve? She will know before we return. I think it would be for the best, as she'll take it better from me than you."

Izzet closed her eyes for a full ten seconds, dropping her swords' points to the ground. Then, her eyes opened and she glared at him as he dispelled the glyph.

'_Fine. If you don't tell her before then, I'll say it to her myself._' Izzet replied, before turning to leave, sheathing her swords. Jet's vanished, and he turned to watch her go.

"What had brought that on?" Jet asked himself, before sighing and stopping time, vanishing from the spot.


	26. Chapter 26 - Snowy Roses

KER-BLAM!

Ruby was standing at Sunset Hill, the snowy peak looking much like dull tourmaline in the sunset. She jumped as Jet leaped off the tree in Burning Jet Venom, causing the ground to shake from the impact. The mechanised dark suit turned to Ruby, standing at roughly a chest and head above her in height, turned and knelt with his back to her, the compartment for her to climb into opening in front of her.

Leaving the bag to be picked up by the suit, Ruby entered the blissfully warm and comfortable compartment, and felt Jet lie down on his stomach in the suit.

"Locking up for flight. How are you feeling?" Jet asked through the intercom of the suit. Ruby felt the reassuring weight of Crescent Rose on her back as she considered her answer.

How did she feel? She was going back to her mother's grave, which made her feel sad. But Jet was with her, which was reassuring, and he was going to meet her mother's ghost, which would be nice for her. Still, Yang wouldn't be with her, which caused a pang of guilt to form in her heart.

"Ruby?" Jet brought her back to attention as they lined up at a clearing. The humming of the engine was a sure sign that they were about to take off. Even the wings were moving to their outstretched position, the purple light flowing outwards from the suit.

"I'm sad that I'm going to my mom's grave, but also happy that you're with me." Ruby replied honestly.

"Good." he replied. "I'm only going to fly us to the edge of Forever Fall. After that, it's all footwork from there."

"Thanks Jet." Ruby said, and she felt her stomach lurch as the suit immediately lifted off from the ground before flying up and out of Beacon. As she watched the sunset-lit academy fade into the distance, she thought briefly before opening up communications again with her pilot. "So who did you copy Crescendo from? That sword."

"It might surprise you," Jet said after a pause, "but I didn't copy Crescendo from anyone. It emerged with my light powers." This reminded Ruby of something.

"How are you able to use light anyway?" Ruby asked. "I thought you were pure dark."

"It is pure dark." Jet replied. "But I am a child of the light god Asmo as much as I am of Deus, the dark god. If I'm able to use darkness, it makes sense that I can use light too."

"How did you become half Grimm?" Ruby asked, curious now. "Were you born that way?"

There was silence for a moment, then-

"Yang never told you did she?" the mechanised intercom queried. "Well, let me tell you."

* * *

Jet had explained what his mother had gone through at the hands of the Beowolf Alpha. He'd head gasps as he revealed each brutal occurrence, for unlike Raven, he was much blunter when it came to his birth.

"That's horrible." he heard from above him.

"It was." Jet replied, scowling. He checked the visor and saw that they were nearing the mountainside of Forever Fall. Feeling the shaking of turbulence, he landed in a small clearing at the foot of the mountain, ploughing through deeper snow than there was at Beacon. Ruby hopped out upon the hatch opening, and he rose, ejecting their backpacks before the suit disintegrated into darkness and vanished.

"Now where's going what when da?" Jet asked Ruby, grabbing the backpacks. He looked up to see Ruby trying her best not to laugh, and it dawned on him what he just said. Ruby broke down in a giggling fit as he slapped his own forehead.

"Okay, well congratulations Ruby." Jet said, starting to laugh himself as he handed Ruby's backpack to its still giggling owner. "That was by a landslide, the absolute worst sentence I have ever said, and you were the only witness."

"Jet in the year five-thousand and thirty eight everyone!" Ruby replied in a very good imitation of a game show host.

"And returning to a world where I don't say things like that," Jet said, patting Ruby on the head, "I have absolutely no way of knowing which direction we're going. Lead on, sweetheart."

He watched as Ruby recovered from her giggles, before pointing to a particular place in the forest and taking Jet by the hand. They walked into the forest, in complete silence.

* * *

They had been walking through the nexus of snow and trees for an hour at this point, when Ruby stopped for a rest. Jet, who had been tailing her, noticed a change on her face. It was sad, but also serious. Now was the time.

"Ruby?" he asked, taking a seat on the log she had sat on.

"Yes?" Her voice was cold, like the majority of this place. She had an uncharacteristically hard look.

"I need to tell you something while we're here. Why I'm fighting Flux… the end result if Flux wins." Jet said. At Ruby's nod, he continued.

"Flux and I are two halves of one person. I am Jet, just as Flux is Flux. She was originally me as well until she separated herself from me. I was the dominant personality, you see, and Flux the recessive one, only coming out in extreme circumstance. We used to love each other, as brother and sister."

At his words, he saw Ruby's expression soften a little.

"She used to be really protective of me, and would come out if someone threatened me or scared me. She was nice. But once she started questioning why she was recessive and how to become dominant, that's when our fight begun. I won, mostly, which is why you've seen me, and not her, the first time we met."

Ruby's expression softened even more, and her face developed more of a pitying expression.

"But that makes me a time bomb. Once Flux has gathered enough strength, she'll return to this body." He put his hand on his chest. "She'll seize control and take all of my power. Merging it with her own, none of us will stand a chance against her. She'll become the accompanying spirit of a puppet, and her puppet will literally become a god. Me. No-one will stand a chance against us if that happens."

"Won't you be able to resist?" Ruby asked. "Surely if you are with her, you'll be able to stop her."

"I wouldn't." Jet replied, looking down. "My desires would become hers, and though you'd be facing me in battle, I would want what she wants; total domination. Compared to me, the White Fang would be like a soft breeze versus an iron wall."

"I've considered ending it all, destroying myself so that she cannot achieve that state." Jet muttered, keeping his eyes on the snow between his shoes. "But that would send her into a maddened rampage, and she would slaughter thousands of innocents before she is destroyed. So I have no choice but to seek her out and destroy her."

He felt an arm around his shoulder, and looked to his left to see Ruby hugging him, and he reciprocated, turning to face her. He noticed a growing wetness on his shoulder, and realised she was crying.

"Why don't you tell me any of this stuff?" she asked, sobbing into his shoulder. "Why do you cover up your pain, so I can't help you?!"

"You would suffer with me." Jet replied, as she moved back and he grasped her shoulders, keeping her in place. "There wouldn't be, and still isn't, anything you can do. So I keep my pain bottled up so that only I'm hurt by it. Because the truth is," he locked eyes with Ruby, now mirroring her stare earlier, "I am scared, I am worried, but more than that, I'm not causing you senseless pain! Remember my vow? I wouldn't cause you pain unless by circumstance or request!"

Even as he yelled, he felt as if a hole in his heart was being torn, allowing all of the pain and darkness within to spill forth, blackening all under it, but at the same time emptying himself of the void within.

"Then I'm calling off the vow you made to me!" Ruby responded sternly. "Because this journey is all about trust. Being with me is all about trust. And you need to trust me! I won't be hurt by your pain, I'll soothe it! Believe in me, Jet!"

Jet sat in stunned silence. Part of it was due to his shock at being yelled at by his childish girlfriend. But he was kidding himself if that was the main reason.

She was right.

He put his head in his hands and turned away.

"I've been such a fool." he said slowly. "Of course you wouldn't be hurt by it."

"Um…" Ruby replied, giving a sure sign she couldn't hear him.

"I've been protecting you from myself the whole time, not realizing that I was being destroyed from the inside!" Jet exclaimed. "And the worst part is, I've not realized that I've been causing you to suffer my silence as a result! I'm an idiot!" He looked up at Ruby, who was still giving him a look of stern appraisal. "You're right. So, since you've revoked my vow, at least let me make a promise."

"A promise?" Ruby asked.

"That I'll be more open when something's bothering me." Jet replied, pulling a small box out from his back pocket and concealing it behind his back. Now was the time.

"Thanks, Jet." Ruby said, slowly. "What have you got behind your back?"

"It's something that signifies a powerful bond in Theyl, and is a prerequisite for something even greater." Jet replied, taking the box out from behind him. It was a small, rectangular box that fit in the palm of Jet's hand. He opened it, revealing two rings. Both were silver, and one rose was crafted from a ruby in exquisite detail, while the other came from a jet. The roses weren't overly large.

Ruby's eyes lit up as soon as she saw them. They were sparkling, like a child that had seen a sparkling new toy. A metropolis of emotions stirred up from deep within him, but the most prevalent one was definitely… love.

"I'm offering you the red one." Jet explained. "Ruby Rose, will you be with me? Until death parts us?"

Ruby immediately took it, so fast that if Jet hadn't known better, he'd have sworn the ring had vanished.

"Yes, Jet! Of course!" she said, attempting to put it on the index finger of her right hand. Jet suppressed a laugh as he put his own, black ring on the middle finger of his right hand, then held it up to Ruby. The excited girl quickly took the hint and slotted hers onto her finger, then looked at it with glittering eyes.

Jet didn't say anything else. He didn't have to. He pulled Ruby into a hug, and kissed her on her lips, which were, despite the cold, still warm.


	27. Chapter 27 - Destiny's Touch

Jet punched the second beowolf down and turned back to see Ruby mopping the rest of the pack up. They'd been ambushed upon closing with the site of Summer's death by these foolish Grimm. The Roses of Darkness had made short work of them. They didn't stand a chance.

Jet looked at the ring that was finally upon his finger, extinguishing the blue flame that surrounded him. Sheathing Crescendo, he realised that the darkness part didn't really fit them now that he could use light. There again, what name would that behold them?

"We beat 'em down." Ruby grinned, exchanging a high five with Jet. Their rings clacked on the high five, and Jet noticed Ruby peer down at hers as they made their way closer to a hedge that looked as if it was guarding something. Jet readied Midnight Rose, intending to cut it down, but Ruby stopped his arm, and pointed to a hole in the hedge that was barely visible.

"Put Midnight Rose away." Ruby said insistently, and Jet obeyed as they neared the hole. "This is the place." she continued, tears evident in her eyes.

* * *

Ruby watched as Jet gazed upon the cliff that marked her mother's grave. Tears were indeed in her eyes.

"This is where she… died." she said with a cry. Jet didn't say anything, nor did he look back or try to comfort her. Instead, he knelt down on one knee, and put his hands together, interlocking his fingers, at the cliff's edge. His wings were tucked away.

"Summer Rose, mother of my loved one, Ruby Rose. My deepest condolences to your spirit, for being forced from this world so early." he spoke outwards, loud yet softly. Ruby felt a breeze picking up, almost as if a response from the air surrounding them. "Though I am but a stranger to you, know that Ruby and I are kindred spirits, and I intend to make her as happy as I can."

Ruby felt as if there was a third presence on the mountain. This new, surreal feeling made her feel uneasy, but she stood next to Jet, looking up towards the sky with him.

"Mum… I'm okay. I'm still alive. For you." Ruby said, and the wind whistled a little at her words. It soothed her heart even as she felt Jet stand up beside her.

"In your memory, I have a song to soothe your spirit. With your daughter's permission," Jet turned to Ruby, a solemn expression on his face, "I'd like to sing it."

"G-go for it." Ruby said, hiccupping a little. Jet took a deep breath, and stretched out his wings to their fullest extent. He sung in a slow, soft tune, one that emphasized every word, almost like it came from his heart as opposed to his lungs.

_"Ille intuens eum,_

_Vacuitas et inania,_

_A ceteris tardus ad aeternitatem,_

_Ex ultimo waltz tibi ceciderunt,_

_In cordibus nostris,_

_Vos autem eritis,_

_Semper a nobis,_

_Numquam oblitus,_

_Nobiscum sentire possumus,_

_Scimus autem nullus timor,_

_Quia novimus,_

_Ibi semper es."_

As Jet finished his song, he turned to Ruby, who had more tears in her eyes. She'd never known someone who could sing that well, even for a guy. She put her arms around him and cried into his shoulder as he looked back up, wrapping his wings around her.

"We will leave you to your rest, but a small part of you will always be with us." Jet bade, before he took Ruby gently by the arm and lead her back to a camp spot they had found earlier.

* * *

Ruby sat forlornly in the center of their tent. Jet was outside it, hacking away at something.

They had reached the site just as night had approached. Ruby picked at a loose thread off the yellow fabric as Jet approached her, having entered the tent. Even though he'd shaken himself off, he could still feel the icy clasp of snowflakes to his feathers and hair. He watched Ruby as she turned and looked at him. He wondered what she was feeling. Sure, sadness, but there was something else.

"Your singing was beautiful." Ruby whispered. "Thank you for singing for my mom. Do you always sing like that?"

Jet hissed softly. That was something he was dreading discussing.

"I don't sing normally." Jet replied slowly. "My voice is reserved for either the right time, or the right people."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked. Jet was taken aback. He'd expected Ruby to be begging him to sing again. Maybe the forlorn atmosphere was starting to get to her.

"The right time was things like back there, at the cliff. The right people only include you and Izzet." Jet explained, feeling a warmth in his cheeks at the words.

"Why her?" Ruby inquired, and she sounded a little more inquisitive, and Jet felt his heart leap. At least she wasn't completely depressed.

"Do you remember what Izzet told you, about the slaughter when I lost control of myself for the first time?" Jet said. "When I regained control, I calmed her down using one of my songs."

"That reminds me." Ruby said, now a little more cheerful. "What language is that?"

"It's Latin." Jet replied, snuggling next to her and putting a wing around her. "It's an old language of our ancestors."

"Do you know anyone else who speaks it?" Ruby asked.

"I don't speak the language myself." Jet admitted. "I only know the songs. I don't even think there's anyone that speaks it."

Even as he spoke, he heard a faint growling from outside, almost like…

"Shh." he whispered, concentrating on the sound. Ruby looked indignant, but Jet put a hand on her mouth, muffling her retort, as he continued to listen. "Beowolves." he muttered.

"Outside?" Ruby whispered back, and they were so close that Jet saw her pupils dilate a little.

Jet's only reply was to summon Midnight Rose and Silver Sliver, and he fused them together to form the Scarlet Jewel, which manifested as two dust crystals embedded on the palm of his hands. Power from dust immediately flowed into him and he took a deep breath. Now, for the darkness.

A white flash blasted outwards, blinding Ruby and the Grimm outside. A cry of pain and a shriek from Ruby deafened Jet as he conjured two fireballs and blasted two of the wolves from point-blank range. He felt himself being blasted back as his targets were incinerated. He then fired two more and whirled around and took out another behind him.

Ruby came flying form behind him as he watched the corpses burn. She sliced three wolves with a single sweep and twirled using her motion to take two more out. Making a mental note to stay out of Ruby's way, he summoned ice shards to spear the last of the beowolves near him, but then felt a powerful blow to the back of his head as an Ursa came from out of nowhere.

Jet landed on his back as the ursa thrust its jaws towards his stomach. Immediately triggering Yang's semblance, he felt his bluish flames roar as he held the ursa at bay, pushing with all his might, but the creature's snapping teeth slowly drew closer.

"Ruby!" he called, desperately. He was not going down this easily. Not here!

At his call, Ruby sliced Crescent Rose through the neck of the ursa, and Jet rolled out of the way of the headless corpse which collapsed with a crunch behind him.

Jet stood up, throwing the head aside, and looked around for more targets. Only one stood there. One who was the last Jet wanted to see.

Flux.

She grinned cockily as she approached Jet and Ruby, who had sidled up behind him.

"Aw, the Grimm didn't kill you. Oh well." she said dreamily.

Purple flames surrounded her as she pointed her lance at them, her shield by her side. Jet felt his heart sink. He knew Flux could control Grimm, and he also knew about her invincibility. She walked slowly towards them, and he looked sideways to see Ruby frowning in puzzlement. She raised her scythe defensively as Flux approached, though the Grimm simply pushed it aside and drew level with her.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked.

"Aw, Jet didn't tell you about me?" she asked, giving Jet a doleful look. "I'm Flux."

"YOU'RE Flux? B-b-but-" Ruby stumbled, clearly at a loss for words, and Jet didn't blame her. If he'd encountered his loved one's demonic half in the flesh, he'd have assumed a monster of her. But no. That wasn't Flux.

"Ruby, we can't beat her." Jet said, quickly, and Flux tittered a little, before punching him sideways and sending him flying into a nearby tree with the force of her attack. Jet slid down the tree, feeling his wings almost cry out in pain. Ruby growled in anger and, ignoring Jet's warning, attacked Flux with a lighting fast strike.

Which was blocked.

Flux punched her back too with her shield arm, before firing a blast with her lance. Ruby, upon hitting the ground, immediately used her semblance to dodge and swing her scythe, aiming for Flux's head, but her opponent ducked at impossible speed and thrust with her lance, piercing Ruby's aura and pricking her with the tip.

Ruby shot backwards as blood ran from her left breast in small drips and drops, staining her cloak. Flux tilted her head with a small smile, as if confused, before that smile turned into a wicked grin and she burst out with barking laughter. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a faint, white light.

"Clearly being with Jet didn't help your intelligence." Flux cackled as she wiped a tear from her eye with a flaming hand. "Nothing can harm me, mortal."

"You sure?!" Jet yelled from behind Ruby, and she looked before diving out of the way a split second later as a massive, white laser blasted Flux where she stood. The Grimm girl immediately flew out of the beam and attacked, sweeping her lance in a wide arc. Jet ducked it and shrouded himself in light before spinning in a perfect imitation of Ruby's attacks, transferring his movements gracefully between attacks, evading Flux's attacks and attacking at any opportunity.

Flux snarled and used her wings to propel herself into the air before firing a black laser at Jet, who also took flight to dodge before continuing their fight in the air, maintaining pressure on his opponent, who swerved and dodged, though every hit Jet managed was deflected by her aura.

Finally, Jet made a single mistake. He overextended a sweep from his scythe, not allowing enough time to dodge the counter from Flux, the impact of which sent him straight back into the snow, landing face-down, blood beginning to stain the snow.

* * *

"JET!" Ruby yelled, immediately forgetting her own injury, running to where her lover was and spinning him over, not caring that Flux was right behind her. He had a wide slash across his stomach, but he was already attempting to heal the injury.

"Now DIE!" she heard from behind her. She closed her eyes, holding Jet tight, not caring if Flux took her with Jet. There was a CRACK and a splat, but Ruby was only concerned for her lover. She stayed like that, not even looking up from the screech of pain the came from… Flux? Ruby wasn't sure anymore. A second body fell next to her, and she felt Jet nudge her aside.

"Mother? No!" Jet cried in dismay. Ruby looked to her side to see Raven, Yang and Jet's mother, lying next to them, blood pooling from a chest wound. Ruby understood. She must have taken the attack for them. But how did she know where they were?

Jet pushed Ruby off him and knelt beside his dying mother. Raven's red eyes carried pain almost beyond Ruby's understanding, and she watched as Jet clasped a hand from the trembling huntress.

"Jet?" she asked in a shaking voice.

"I'm here. I'm… still alive." Jet replied. Raven gave a pained smile.

"Then… this time… you know what to do…" Raven said, before she fell still, never to move again. Jet held Jet as he began to cry. It was morbidly ironic, as now they both had someone to mourn. The light surrounding Jet was flickering, almost as if it was mirroring his emotions. It only just occurred to Ruby as she wrapped herself around him that he had been using light to fight Flux.

That light finally died, leaving them in the hollow light of the moon above. Jet seemed to have calmed down, because he resumed his kneeling position before Raven's body. He didn't look at Ruby, but raised his hand and conjured blue flames in his palm, before pressing it to his mother's body and setting it alight.

His work done, Jet finally turned to Ruby, a grim expression on his face.

"As much as I'd want to grieve for our mothers, there's something we need to do. Do you remember the choice I have to make? About Asmo or Deus?" he said. "I've decided now. But whichever path I take, I need you by my side."

Ruby recognised the fact that he was asking how she felt. She knew the answer before he'd even asked.

"I'll always be with you, no matter what." Ruby replied. She'd decided when she'd had that conversation with Yang. Even if Jet chose Deus and embraced the shadows, she would stay with him. Even if she went against her younger beliefs, it wouldn't matter to her anymore.

Because Ruby loved him.

"Then, we'll go to Deus. C'mon." Jet declared, offering Ruby his back. She climbed on, and he took off, their backpacks floating beside them as they soared up and out of the dark forest.


	28. Chapter 28 - The Beginning of the End

Ruby gazed upon the familiar path to the Festung der Schatten. She'd taken it at speed in pursuit of Jet the last time she'd travelled this way before, but now, perched on Jet's back, she was able to see the pillar-like structures of ice upon the side of the path. She shivered, and it wasn't just because of the cold of night.

She was really going along with it. Jet would become… what? What would he become?

"Jet?" she asked, breaking an insubstantial silence permeated by the rushing of wind and sleet. "What will we do once we meet Deus?"

"You remember I mentioned the Darkening Ritual of Deus?" At Ruby's nod, which he saw over his shoulder, he continued. "It's almost like marriage. We embrace the dark power together. I'm known as the Heir, and you are the Fulcrum."

"I'm the fulcrum?" Ruby asked confusedly.

"You're what keeps me on Remnant." Jet explained. "Your power increases in strength. You're faster, stronger, lighter, everything."

"That… sounds good." Ruby said after a pause. "And the Heir?"

"As the Heir, I get the full boost. I become invulnerable. I also only use the lance and shield weapon that we saw on Flux. That weapon can harm her." Jet said. "But I need to be careful. If you die, or fall unconscious, I die or faint too."

"You die too?!" Ruby asked. "What happens if you die?"

"I can't die. I will be immortal. But don't worry." Jet reassured. "I won't let you die. I cannot be defeated. I'll keep you safe."

Ruby watched as the silhouette of the castle grew closer and closer. Only death would part them. If she truly went through with this, Jet would never leave her life. He'd stay with her, her immortal protector. No worry of losing him through the uncertain life of a hunter.

Completely safe.

Jet gazed up at the gates of the Festung der Shatten. Like before, it was unguarded. That probably meant that no-one else was here. That was good. Jet didn't want to meet anyone else here.

He felt Ruby shift beside him, and put and arm around his lover. No matter what, he'd protect Ruby with everything he had.

"Jet?" Ruby caught his attention, and he turned his head to find her face close to his own. He resisted the urge to kiss her, damn her cuteness, because of the serious voice she gave.

"Yes, sweetheart?" he asked.

"Will we be able to go back to Beacon? After this?" Ruby asked, tilting her head to the fortress before them.

"Of course." Jet replied reassuringly. "Our plan is this; we unlock my powers and then return to Beacon. We keep this a secret until Flux reveals herself, and then we take her out."

"Why would we keep it a secret?" Ruby asked.

"Because this is a crime, what we're doing." Jet explained, seeing Ruby's eyes widen. "Collaborating with the powers of darkness is a crime similar to what I committed back when I lost control of myself. That's why."

"Oh." was Ruby's only reply. Jet gave her a hug in response, and they opened the heavy wooden doors together.

* * *

They stepped into the entrance hall, which save for two lit torches on brackets, was eerily dark. Cold stone floors met grey brick walls, and nothing, save a tattered red carpet which branched to rooms on the left and right in addition to a door in front of them, was visible.

Except their company.

As Jet strode into the center of the room, Ruby closely following, clutching his arm, he heard them. Growling beowolves surrounded them. The room was lit but their red eyes glowing with malice. They were only just out of arms' reach, but there were too many to take on alone.

"J-j-j-j-et?" Ruby stuttered behind him as he came to a halt. A sole beowolf neared them, this one larger than Jet had ever seen before. He put his arm around the clearly frightened Ruby and held her close as the mega-beowolf neared them.

There was silence as it too came to a halt.

"Cease, creature of darkness." Jet said in a booming voice that echoed throughout the hall, reaching the hundreds of creatures before them, surrounding them. "I know of your master, and I seek an audience with him." He unfurled his wings to their fullest span. "I am of your blood, and she is of my kin. Begone, lest your master be displeased."

The Grimm were motionless. Jet remained still. Only Ruby continued to shudder as she buried her face in Jet's chest, and he held her as the beowolf that challenged him now approached again, but much more cautiously.

Jet knew what he had to do.

He let go of Ruby and pinched the skin on the top of his right hand, and began to peel towards his arm. A layer of fabricated skin came off, revealing a purple cut that glowed in the darkness. It was in the shape of a rose, and he presented it to the Beowolf, who sniffed at it, then gave a howl, which was mirrored by the others.

Slowly, the horde retreated, and Jet kept his vigil from any more challenges until they were alone. He then unpinned Ruby and looked into her wide eyes.

"We're safe here. Come on." Jet insisted.

"Sorry." Ruby said as he made to walk foreward, but Jet turned back.

"What's wrong? You were right to be scared." Jet said.

* * *

Before Ruby replied, a voice emanated from around them, as if coming from the shadows of the castle themselves, a deep, growling voice.

"YOU RETURN, HEIR, WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND BOND REQUIRED."

"Deus!" Jet called out to the voice. "I come for the honour of becoming one of your true children!"

"SO YOU HAVE. ENTER THE ALTER IN FRONT OF YOU." Deus replied, and the door in front of them opened of its own accord.

A dark altar met their eyes, and a single, humanoid figure standing atop it. It reminded Ruby of… no, it couldn't be…

"Shade?" she asked.

"WHO IS THIS SHADE?" Deus asked.

He was exactly the same as the shadow person that Ruby had met in the prison. The figure, the robes, the deep red glowing eyes, everything!

"Shade is the name of that form." Jet answered. "I assume you plucked it from my memories?"

"YOU WERE SURPRISINGLY… ALLOWING." Deus growled.

"Consider it a gift. As I understand, it is normally difficult for you to take form from a memory." Jet replied, as they closed with the god. Ruby saw that they were now crossing a stone bridge, and looked down to see a dark abyss with no visible bottom. The only light came from candles at the altar.

"THAT IS UNIMPORTANT, HEIR. YOU WISH FOR THE POWER THAT IS YOURS, YES?" Deus demanded, as they stood before him.

"Yes. I have all that you asked for." Jet replied.

"YET YOUR FULCRUM SEEMS FEARFUL. TELL ME, HUMAN GIRL," Deus addressed Ruby as they reached him, Jet's footsteps echoing along the cavern, "DO YOU TRULY WISH TO CLAIM THIS POWER AND BE BONDED TO HIM?"

* * *

Jet turned to Ruby. She had a downcast look on her face. This was it. The moment of truth. Ruby would stand by his side as the partner of an Angel of Darkness, and be bonded to one of her worst enemies imaginable. Yet it would also be him, and they'd need this power in order to defeat Flux when she makes her attempt to control him.

"Ruby, this is your choice." Jet said, bringing her attention to him. "The bond between us won't change if you refuse. You'll still be my sweetheart no matter what happens."

This gave Ruby pause, and Jet waited. Deus was completely focussed on her as well.

"I don't want this." Ruby replied. "Truthfully, I don't."

"WHY DID YOU COME, IF YOU HAD APPREHENSIONS?" Deus asked. Ruby looked at the shadow directly in the eyes, and Jet felt his heart race.

"Because I love Jet." she replied. "And because I know we need this power. The enemy we have is too powerful for us alone." Her eyes turned to Jet. "Jet needs to be as powerful as we can make him to stand a chance, and to protect me and everyone that I love, including him. So please," she turned to Deus and knelt before the dark god, "give us the strength we need!"

There was silence. Then, Deus laughed, a booming, barking laugh. The shadow convulsed slightly, and the red eyes became horizontal slits as the deity expressed his mirth.

"NOBILITY. SUCH A RARE TRAIT AMONGST THOSE THAT SEEK MY AID." Deus' voice resonated within Jet's mind as he chuckled. "I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT YOU BETTER GRATIFIED FOR THE LIGHT."

"The light is frail." Jet responded, turning Deus' gaze unto himself. "Too weak to be any use in battle. The strength lies with the darkness. With your children. We recognise that."

"MY SISTER THINKS DIFFERENT. BUT THIS MATTERS LITTLE." Deus growled. "HAVE YOU AN ESTABLISHED TITLE ALREADY FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP?"

"The Roses of Darkness." Both Jet and Ruby replied at once.

"FITTING BY YOUR NAMES AND RINGS." Deus commented. "NOW! HEIR AND FULCRUM. ARE YOU READY?"

"We are." Jet and Ruby both spoke in unison. Jet felt a sizzling pain in the palm of his right hand, and looked to see a circular cut forming on his palm. Hearing Ruby cry out, Jet knew the same was happening to her.

"DO YOU, JET XIAO ROSE, CLAIM YOUR RIGHTFUL STATUS AS AN ANGEL OF DARKNESS, AND OF MY KIN?" Deus asked.

"I do." Jet replied, turning back to the Grimm.

"AND DO YOU, RUBY ROSE, VOW TO BECOME THE FULCRUM OF THIS NEW ANGEL?"

* * *

There was silence as Ruby considered all of the things she'd be throwing away if she did this. Her team, beacon, her family… but this must be done. If they stood any chance of defeating Flux, then it must come to pass, for the sake of those she would abandon eventually.

She knew that she and Jet would eventually be branded as outcasts from society for uniting with the Grimm, but if truth be told, she didn't need them. Nothing mattered too much, as long as she stayed by Jet's side.

"I do."

**To be concluded…**


End file.
